NATHAN  READ. 


L  _,.--,- .:_._. 


NATHAN  READ: 


HIS  INVENTION  OF  THE  MULTI-TUBULAR  BOILER 
AND  PORTABLE  HIGH-PRESSURE  ENGINE,  AND 
DISCOVERY    OF    THE    TRUE    MODE   OF 
APPLYING  STEAM-POWER  TO  NAV 
IGATION  AND    RAILWAYS. 


A    CONTRIBUTION  TO    THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF   THE 
STEAMBOAT  AND   LOCOMOTIVE  ENGINE. 


BY  HIS  FRIEND  AND  NEPHEW 

DAVID   READ. 


NEW   YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  HURD  AND  HOUGHTON. 


1870. 


vft 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

DAVID  READ, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  District  of 
Vermont. 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED  BY  H.  0.  HOUGHTON  AND  COMPANY. 


PREFACE. 

THE  successful  application  of  steam-power  to  boats 
and  locomotives  forms  a  most  important  era  in  the 
history  of  this  world's  progress  ;  and  the  men  who 
took  a  part  in  accomplishing  that  great  work,  are  en 
titled  to  the  remembrance  of  all  such  as  respect  hu 
man  genius,  and  look  upon  the  advance  of  knowledge 
and  civilization  as  a  blessing.  The  subject  of  this 
memoir  was  one  of  those  men,  and  the  interesting 
incidents  relating  to  his  inventions  were  liable  to  be 
lost  to  history  by  the  lapse  of  time,  and  with  them 
his  just  claims  for  the  essential  part  he  took  both  in 
the  invention  of  the  steamboat  and  locomotive  engine. 
To  preserve  these  facts,  was  indeed  the  motive  that 
led  to  the  preparation  of  this  little  volume. 

The  facts  relating  to  the  inventions  of  Nathan  Read, 
so  far  as  they  were  spread  on  paper,  were  preserved 
by  him  during  his  lifetime,  and  by  his  family  after 
his  decease  ;  and  the  reasons  why  they  were  not  pub 
lished  by  himself,  will  appear  in  the  closing  chapter  of 
this  book.  He  having,  however,  failed  to  accomplish 
this  end,  which  is  much  to  be  regretted,  the  question 

M164314 


VI  PREFACE. 

arose,  should  the  evidence  of  his  labors  pass  off  for 
ever,  or  be  presented  to  the  public  ? 

This  was  a  matter  that  upon  every  consideration 
both  of  a  private  and  public  character  scarcely  al 
lowed  hesitation  ;  the  truth  of  history,  the  dictates  of 
friendship  and  justice,  and  the  claims  of  Science  to  a 
knowledge  of  all  who  have  been  devoted  to  her  ser 
vice,  seemed  to  require  the  publication  ;  and  under 
this  aspect  of  the  case  the  labor  of  collecting  the  evi 
dence  and  preparing  it  for  the  press  was  undertaken 
by  the  subscriber,  without  expectation  of  fee  or  re 
ward.  And  it  may  'be  added,  that  a  desire  to  con 
tribute  to  the  early  history  of  the  steamboat  and  lo 
comotive  this  additional  testimony  of  the  talent  and 
genius  of  our  own  native  citizens,  will  also,  it  is  be 
lieved,  be  appreciated  by  a  generous  public. 

In  prosecuting  our  inquiries  we  have  found  it  neces 
sary  to  compare  the  respective  claims  of  inventors  ; 
but  this  occupies  no  distinct  portion  of  the  narrative, 
and  is  drawn  from  the  facts  here  presented,  and  from 
the  published  accounts  of  various  authors  ;  and  such 
extracts  as  have  been  deemed  proper  to  elucidate  the 
subject,  or  to  give  interest  to  the  reader,  have  been 
duly  credited,  by  reference  to  the  authorities. 

It  will  be  seen  that  different  projectors,  supported 
by  different  countries,  come  in  as  contestants  for  the 
honor  of  these  inventions:  England,  Scotland,  France, 


PREFACE.  Vll 

and  Spain,  claim  the  invention  of  the  steamboat ;  and 
France  and  England  the  locomotive  engine  ;  when, 
in  truth,  they  were  both  inventions  of  our  own  coun 
try  ;  and  it  will  be  left  for  the  reader  to  decide  who 
among  us  contributed  most  toward  the  invention  of 
that  machinery,  which  resulted  in  their  success. 

The  original  descriptions,  plans,  and  drawings  of 
Judge  Read,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  subject,  have 
been  carefully  copied  into  this  volume  ;  and,  on  in 
spection,  no  one  will  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the 
papers.  His  manuscripts,  in  the  mean  time,  contain 
numerous  plans,  drawings,  and  descriptions,  of  other 
inventions  and  experiments  in  the  mechanic  arts,  made 
by  him.  These,  and  many  other  matters,  would  prop 
erly  come  within  the  scope  of  a  biography,  but  not 
within  the  plan  of  this  work. 

To  show  the  necessity  of  a  complete  revolution  in 
the  steam-engine  to  prepare  it  for  navigation,  even 
after  Watt  had  made  his  great  improvements  upon 
it,  a  brief  account  of  its  invention  as  it  progressed 
from  one  step  to  another,  from  its  earliest  history  up 
to  the  close  of  Watt's  improvements,  has  been  given. 
The  engine  of  Savary,  Newcomen,  or  Watt,  could  not 
be  successfully  applied  to  boats ;  and  all  attempts 
made  with  them  utterly  failed  ;  which  in  itself  shows 
the  fallacy  of  all  the  claims  to  the  invention  of  the 
steamboat,  before  the  discovery  and  existence  of  ma- 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

chinery  necessary  to  give  it  success.  In  order  to  show 
this,  it  became  important  to  notice  the  numerous  ex 
periments,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe,  with  the 
old  form  of  engine,  whether  of  Newcomen  or  Watt, 
or  those  tried  by  Rumsey  and  Fitch ;  and,  to  show 
wherein  their  failure  consisted,  to  compare  their  en 
gines  with  that  afterwards  invented  by  Read,  which 
it  is  claimed  was  the  engine  applied  by  Fulton  on 
his  first  boat  upon  the  Hudson,  and  led  to  the  final 
success  of  navigation  by  steam. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  numerous  experiments 
with  the  locomotive  engine.  All  proved  unsatisfactory 
or  wholly  failed  until  the  multi-tubular  boiler  and 
high-pressure  engine,  which  had  been  invented  by 
Read  to  fit  Watt's  engine  to  the  purposes  of  loco 
motion,  gave  triumphant  success  to  the  locomotive,  as 
applied  by  George  Stevenson. 

These  various  inquiries  make  up  an  interesting  por 
tion  of  the  volume  ;  and  although  they  may  be  felt 
at  first  to  be  inapplicable  to  its  general  purpose,  yet, 
as  the  reader  progresses,  he  will  see  both  the  necessity 
and  importance  of  this  portion  of  the  narrative  ;  more 
especially  as  the  design  of  the  work  is  purely  his 
torical. 

DAVID  KEAD. 

BURLINGTON,  VT.,  October,  1860. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Steam-engine. —Watt's  Improvement.  —  Early  Discovery  of 
Steam  Force.  —  Hero  of  Alexandria.—  Cardan  and  others.  — 
Progress  of  the  Invention.— Fulton. —Watt's  Engine  not 
adapted  to  Boats  and  Locomotives.  —  Nathan  Eead  and  his 
Improvements.  —  His  Papers,  Drawings,  etc.  ...  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Nathan  Read.  —  Biographical  Notice.  —  Parentage,  Birth,  etc.  — 
Enters  Harvard  University.  —  Graduates.  —  Tutor  in  College. 

Study  of   Medicine.  —  Mechanic  Arts.  —  Invention  of 

Steamboat  and  Land  Carriage.  —  Marriage.  —  Member  of 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.  —  Salem  Iron 
Foundry. — Invention  and  Patent  of  the  Nail  Machine. — 
Member  of  Congress.  —Judge  in  Essex  and  Hancock  County 
Courts.  — Member  of  the  Linmean  Society. —  Removal  to  Bel 
fast.  —  Invention  of  Agricultural  Implements.  —  Farm.  — 
Social  and  Educational  Improvements.  —  Death.  —  Personal 
Attainments.  —  Purpose  of  introducing  Steam-power  to 
Navigation,  and  Land  Transport 5 

CHAPTER  III. 

Watt's  Rotary  Engine.  —  Blasco  de  Garay.  —  Account  of  his  Ex 
periment.  —  Mr.  Marsh's  Translation  and  Note.  —  Credibility 
of  the  Account  considered.  —  Early  History  of  the  Steam- 
engine,  —  Hero's  Experiments.  —  The  ^Eolipile.  —  Jack  of 
Hilton.  —  Difficulty  of  de  Garay's  reputed  Invention.  —  Car 
dan's  Discovery.  —  Battista  Porta.  —  Solomen  de  Caus.  — 
Marquis  of  Worcester.  —  Galileo.  —  Torricelli.  —  De  Guer- 
icke.  —  Pascal.  —  Boyle.  —  Denys  Papin.  —  Savary.  — 
Newcomen  and  C  awley.  —  Humphrey  Potter.  — De  Garay's 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

reputed  Experiment  reviewed.  —  Smeaton.  —  Atmospheric 
Engine.  —  Watt's  Improvements.  —  His  Copartnership  with 
Boulton.  —  Parallel  Motion.  —  Throttle-valve.  —  Governor, 
etc.  —  His  first  Double-acting  Rotary  Engine.  —  De  Garay's 
Claims  further  considered  and  concluded  .  .  .  .10 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Idea  of  applying  Steam  to  Boats. — Paddle-wheels.  —  Animal 
Power.— Steam  Power  proposed. — Jonathan  Hulls. — Beli- 
dor. —  Daniel  Bornouilli  —  Genevois.  —  Comte  de  Auxiron.  — 
Earl  of  Stanhope.  —  Perrier.  —  Marquis  de  Jouffroy  —  Pat 
rick  Miller  —  Symington.  —  Lord  Dundas.  —  Henry  Bell.  — 
British  Writers.  —  Woolhouse.  —  "  London  Journal "'  of  the 
Society  of  Arts.—  "  London  Quarterly."  —  Miller's  Book.  — 
Washington.— Bell's  Plans.  —  Fulton.  —  Symington's  Plans 
and  Boat.  — The  Steamboat  an  American  Invention  .  .  27 

CHAPTER  V. 

Progress  of  the  Invention  in  the  United  States.  —  James  Rumsey 
and  John  Fitch.  —  Rumsey's  Pole  Boat.  —  His  first  Steam 
boat.  —  Dr.  Franklin.  —  Rumsey  goes  to  England.  —  His 
Death.  —  His  Pipe-boiler.  — Fitch's  Experiments.  —  Contro 
versy  with  Rumsey.  —  His  Ignorance  of  the  Steam-engine.  — 
Henry  Voight.  —  Fitch's  first  Engine  and  Skiff-boat.  —  His 
second  Boat  with  Oars  at  the  Sides.  —  His  third  Boat  with 
Paddles  at  the  Stern.— His  fourth  Boat.  —  Tried  Seven  dif 
ferent  Condensers  without  Success.  —  The  Eighth  does  better. 

—  His  Boat  run  for  Passengers  three  Months.  —  Given  up. 

—  Attempted  a  fifth  Boat.  —  Abandoned.  —  His  Poverty.  — 
Genius. — Perplexities.  —  Goes  to  Kentucky. — Death  .        .     37 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Read's  Invention  of  new  Machinery. —  His  Modification  of  Watt's 
Engine.  —  His  Portable  Furnace  Boiler.  —  Its  Multi-tubes. — 
His  Patent  and  Specification.  —  First  Multi-tubular  Boiler 
invented.  —  Its  Importance.  —  Letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  —  Its 
necessity  for  Locomotives.  —  Rocket  Engine.  —  M.  Seguin. — 
Robert  Stephenson.  —  His  Description  of  the  Rocket  Boiler. 

—  Stevens.  —  Henry  Booth.  —  Trial  of  Locomotive  Engines 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE 

at  Rainhill.  —  The  Rocket  takes  the  Prize,  owing  to  the 
Multi-tubular  Boiler  and  Steam-blast.  —  Claims  to  these  In 
ventions  46 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Read's  Boiler  may  be  used  Vertical  or  Horizontal.  —  With  the 
Water  or  the  Flame  passing  through  the  Tubes.  —  Number 
of  Tubes.  —  Size.  —  Description  of  Boiler.  — Its  Application 
by  George  Stephenson.  —  Smiles'  Remarks.  —  American  In 
ventors  64 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

Railroad  Invention.  —  Railway  Track.  —  Beaumont.  —  Plank 
and  Timber. — Parallel  Rails.  —  Wheels. — Benjamin  Ou- 
tram.  —  Cast-iron  Wheels..  —  Tram-roads.  —  Duke  of  Nor 
folk.  —  Iron  Rails.  —  Worked  by  Horses.  —  Sails  proposed. 

—  Steam  proposed.  —  Chapman.  —  His  Chain  and  Barrel 
Wheel.  —  Bronton.  —  His  "  Mechanical  Traveller."  —  Block- 
ett.  —  Toothed  Wheels   unnecessary.  —  Stationary  Engines. 

—  Tredgold  and   Horse-power.  —  Stockton  and  Darlington 
Railway.  —  Prejudice  of  the  Laboring  Classes. — Progress 
notwithstanding. — Dr.   Cotton.  —  Read's  Purpose  and  In 
ventions.  —  His  High-pressure  Engine.  — Leopold.  —  Oliver 
Evans.  —  Trevethick  &  Vivian.  —  Their  Engine  and  first  Ex 
periment.  —  Coleridge's  Account  of  it.  —  Their  Tram-road 
Engine  at  Merthyr  Tydvil.  —  Blenkinsop.  —  Evans's  Dredg 
ing  Machine.  —  Read's  Boiler  with  the  Flame  passing  through 
the  Tubes.  —  Description  of  it 68 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Read's  Steam  Cylinder.  —  His  Patent  and  Specification  of  it.  — 
Land  Carriages.  —  Comparison  with  Trevethick's  Cylinder.  — 
Letter  to  Timothy  Pickering.  — Watt.  —  Murdock.  —  Evans's 
Machine,  or  Mud  Scow. — Professor  Renwick's  Remarks. — 
Evans's  Boiler  and  Engine. — His  Experiment.  —  His  Ma 
chinery  for  moving  his  Scow  to  the  River.  —  High-pressure 
Engine.  —  Joseph  Sampson  and  Evans's  Plans  and  Drawings. 

—  Read's  Specification  of  his  Land  Carriage  and  Engine.  — 
Murdock's  Experiment.  —  Petition  to  Congress  withdrawn. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


tion  Steamers  built  at  Albany.  — Legal  Proceedings.  —  Con 
stitutional  Powers  of  Congress.  —  Livingston  &  Fulton 
alarmed,  and  secure  a  Patent  for  Paddle-wheels.  —  They  bring 
the  Albany  Company  to  Terms.  —  Additional  Act  of  the 
New  York  Legislature. —  Its  Arbitrary  Character.  —  New  Jer 
sey  Opposition.  —  Colonel  Ogden. —  William  Duer.  — Report 
of  Committee.  —  Connecticut.  —  Thomas  Gibbons.  —  Decis 
ion  of  United  States  Court.  —  Monopoly  broken  up  .  .  147 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Read's  Machinery  and  Fulton's  compared. — Read's  Paddle-wheels. 

—  Cylinder. — Boiler.  —  Floats.  — Axis.  — Working-beam  dis 
pensed  with,  and  Cross-head  Substituted.  —  Parallel  Motion 
dispensed  with.  —  Rotary  Motion. —  Fly-wheel.  — Cold-water 
Cistern  dispensed  with,  and  Water  injected  from  under  the 
Boat.  —  Fulton's    Machinery.  —  Working-beam  suppressed, 
and   Cross-head   substituted.  —  Axis.  —  Fly-wheel.  —  Cold- 
water  Cistern  dispensed  with,  and  Water  injected  from  under 
the  Boat.  — Condenser.  —  Paddle-wheels.  —  Car  of  Neptune. 

—  Stevens's    Machinery.  —  Fulton's  Letter    to  Boulton   & 
Watt.  —  Summary  of  Comparison.  —  Machinery   substan 
tially  alike. — Letter  to  Colonel  Pickering      .        .        .         .157 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

How  did  Fulton  get  his  Plans  of  Machinery.  —  Fitch.  —  Sym 
ington.  —  Bell.  —  Aaron  Vail.  — Fitch's  Plans.  —  Fulton 
used  no  Part  of  Fitch's  Inventions. —  Symington's  Boat  Char 
lotte  Dundas.  —  Fulton's  Machinery  wholly  different  from 
Symington's.  —  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica."  —  Its  Preten 
sions.  — Fulton's  Visit  to  the  Charlotte  Dundas. — Symington's 
Account  of  it.  —  Fulton's  Sketch. — British  and  American 
Experiments. — Professor  Renwick's  View  of  Symington's  and 
Fulton's  Boats.  —  Modification  of  Watt's  Engine.  —  Fulton's 
Directions  to  Boulton  &  Watt.  —  His  Engine  a  new  thing  to 

them.  —  Description    of  Symington's  Boat Bell's  Plans 

and  Boat  Comet.  — Its  Machinery  copied  after  Fulton's         .  166 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Fulton's  Claims  to  Invention  examined.  —  Colden's  Views.  — 
Royou's  Memoir.  —  Remarks  of  Westcott.  —  Henry  Howe. — 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAGB 

"  New  York  Review."  —  Of  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica."  — 
Professor  Renwick.  — Fulton's  Machinery  traceable  to  Read 
alone.  — Read's  Inventions  regarded  as  Original  by  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences. — His  Exhibition  of  his 
Plans  and  Models  to  Stevens  and  others.  —  Stevens  &  Liv 
ingston's  Copartnership.  —  Livingston  informed  Fulton,  etc. 
—  Coincidence  of  the  Chain-wheel.  —  Combination  of  Machin 
ery.  —  Fulton  not  the  Author  of  it.  —  Judge  Read's  Account 
of  his  Inventions." —  Article  in  the  "  Philosophical  Transac 
tions  " 176 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Why  Read's  Inventions  have  not  before  been  published.  —  His 
own  Purpose.  —  Letter  of  Rev.  J.  W.  Hanson.  —  Reply. — 
Commences  his  Autobiography.  —  Death.  —  His  Papers  left 
for  others  to  publish.  —  Additional  Considerations.  —  His 
Boat  and  Machinery  the  Type  of  present  Steamers.  —  The 
Great  Eastern.  —  His  Multi-tubular  Boiler  and  High-pressure 
Engine  the  same  in  Principle  as  our  present  Locomotives.  — 
Concluding  Remarks ,  186 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 


Likeness  of  Nathan  Read Frontispiece. 

Hero's  Inventions.     Nos.  1  and  2          ....  14 

The  ^Eolipile.     No.  3 14 

Battista  Porta's  Invention.     No.  4 14 

Solomen  de  Cans'  Invention.     No.  5 14 

James  Rumsey's  Steamboat.     No.  7       .....        38 

John  Fitch's  first  Steamboat.    No.  8 38 

Nathan  Read's  Multi-tubular  Boiler ;  perspective  view.     Plate 

1,  Fig.  1 50 

Nathan  Read's  Multi-tubular  Boiler ;  vertical  section  of.    Plate 

l,Fig.2 50 

Nathan  Read's  Multi-tubular  Boiler ;    horizontal  section  of 

lower  part.     Plate  1,  Fig.  3 50 

Nathan  Read's  Multi-tubular  Boiler ;  horizontal  section  of 

upper  part.     Plate  1,  Fig.  4 50 

Read's  Improved  Steam  Cylinder.     Plate  3,  Fig.  3           .         .     79 
Read's  Improved  Steam  Cylinder,  as  applied  to  his  Land  Car 
riage.     Plate  3,  Fig.  6 79 

Read's  Land  Carriage,  or  Locomotive  ;  View  of  the  running 

part.    Plate  5,  Fig.  1 86 

Read's  Steamboat;   View  of  the  hulk,  paddle-wheels,  etc. 

Plate  3,  Fig.  5 102 

Rumsey's  Pipe-boiler  and  Furnace.     No.  11          .        .         .         124 
Read's  Steamboat ;  perspective  view,  drawn  from  his  general 

description  and  plans.    No.  12 157 

Fulton's  Steamboat,  from  "  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  Biogra 
phy."    No.  13 159 

Symington's  Steamboat,  from  "  Young's  Natural  Philosophy," 

Vol.  1.    No.  14 174 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  invention  of  the  steam-engine  prepared  the 
way  for  a  series  of  experiments,  with  a  view  to  apply 
it  to  navigation,  and  at  length  to  land  transport.  The 
great  improvements  of  Watt  had  changed  its  charac 
ter  from  a  machine  of  comparatively  small  importance, 
and  limited  in  its  application  and  use  to  the  single  pur 
pose  of  pumping  water  and  lifting  ore  from  the  mines, 
to  an  instrument  applicable  to  the  use  of  mills  and  fac 
tories,  and  most  kinds  of  mechanical  industry,  where 
a  stationary  motive  power  was  required.  This  essential 
change  in  the  utility  of  the  steam-engine,  was  effected, 
not  only  by  reducing  the  expense  of  working  it,  but 
by  converting  the  rectilinear  motion  of  the  old  New- 
comen  engine  into  a  rotary  motion,  uniform  and  con 
tinuous  ;  which  improvement  not  only  made  it  possible, 
but  a  convenient  motive  power,  to  turn  the  wheels  of 
mills  and  factories. 

It  is  very  proper  here  to  notice,  that  the  invention  of 
the  steam-engine,  which  in  its  operative  power  at  this 
day  far  exceeds  the  whole  amount  of  hand  labor  upon 
the  habitable  globe,1  was  not  the  work  of  one  man,  or 
one  generation  of  men ;  indeed,  we  may  well  imagine 

1  Loffidon  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  civ.  p.  411, 1858. 
1 


\  XEAQAND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

that  the  force  of  steam  must  have  been  known  to  some 
extent,  as  early  as  man  had  the  power  of  observation 
and  fire  and  water  were  brought  in  contact  before  him. 
From  the  time  Hero  of  Alexandria  amused  himself  by 
the  use  of  steam  as  a  mechanical  force  to  move  the  sim 
ple  machinery  he  had  invented,  up  to  the  time  Watt 
perfected  his  improvements  and  set  his  double-acting 
rotary-engine  at  work,  was  nearly  two  thousand  years. 
And  although  no  sensible  improvement  was  made  with 
steam  force,  before  Cardan  discovered  the  effect  of 
condensation,  —  for  the  seolipile  used  by  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  and  Jack  of  Hilton,  of  feudal  notoriety, 
were  no  improvement  upon  Hero's  invention,  —  yet 
from  Cardan's  day  to  the  time  of  Watt,  a  period  of 
some  two  hundred  and  ten  years,  scientific  men  and 
men  of  genius  were  successively  engaged  in  the  work, 
and  adding  something  towards  the  invention  of  the 
steam-engine.  Battista  della  Porta,  Solomen  De  Caus, 
the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  Torricelli,  Pascal,  De  Gar- 
ricke,  Papin,  Savary,  Newcomen,  and  others,  not  for 
getting  little  Humphrey  Potter,  each  one  made  some 
important  addition  to  it.  Notwithstanding  this,  when 
it  went  into  the  hands  of  Watt  it  was  at  best  but  a  very 
imperfect  thing,  compared  with  engines  of  the  present 
day.  To  suppose  that  the  steam-engine,  steamboat, 
or  locomotive,  could  be  invented  by  one  man,  would 
be  contrary  to  the  truth  of  history.  Indeed,  inventions 
in  steam-power,  and  in  most  cases  of  like  complication 
and  importance,  have  been  progressive.  It  would  be 
absurd  to  suppose,  that  one  single  mind  would  be  able 
to  acquire,  in  the  first  place,  so  perfect  a  knowledge  of 
all  those  intricate  principles  of  natural  and  mechanical 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  3 

science,  as  it  must  needs  understand,  to  construct  a 
steam-engine ;  and  in  the  second  place,  conceive  and 
put  together  the  several  parts  of  a  machine  so  complex 
and  extensive.  Facts  show  that  these  inventions  are 
brought  about  by  successive  improvements,  first  by 
one  and  then  by  another.  How  often  do  we  hear  the 
remark,  "Fulton  invented  the  steamboat,"  as  if  every 
thing  connected  with  it,  keelson,  hulk,  wheels,  and  the 
engine  it  carries,  were  new  discoveries  by  him  alone. 

Indeed,  to  Watt  himself,  who  never  had  any  settled 
purpose  or  intention  of  applying  steam  power  to  boats 
or  land  carriages,1  and  made  no  special  improvements 
in  the  engine  directed  to  those  purposes,  there  is  due  a 
large  item  of  credit,  in  both  cases,  for  his  inventions. 
The  steam-engine,  however,  as  improved  by  him,  was 
but  partially  prepared  for  navigation  and  land  trans 
port.  He  gave  it  the  rotary  principle,2  without  which 
it  would  have  been  useless  ;  but  his  massive  boilers, 
and  great  weight  of  fuel  and  machinery,  were  not 
suited  to  the  capacity  of  boats  and  land  carriages, 
nor  was  the  form  of  his  engines  adapted  to  those  pur 
poses.  His  double-acting  cylinder  and  separate  con 
denser,  would  both  apply  to  boats ;  but  in  the  case  of 
land  carriages  it  became  necessary  to  dispense  with  the 
condenser,  the  working  beam,  and  some  other  parts  of 
the  machinery,  for  the  want  oi  water  for  condensation, 
as  well  as  the  want  of  space  ;  and  a  new  sort  of  engine, 
constructed  upon  different  principles,  became  necessary 
for  that  particular  use.3 

It  is  believed  that  Nathan  Read,  as  early  as  1788-89, 

i  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  330.  2  Ibid.  p.  227. 

3  Woolhouse  On  the  Steam-engine,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 


4  NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

while  a  resident  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  invented  the 
necessary  machinery  to  adapt  Watt's  engine  to  boats 
and  land  carriages,  with  the  avowed  and  special  pur 
pose  of  applying  it  to  both  of  those  objects.  That  he 
constructed  a  model  of  a  steamboat,  with  paddle-wheels 
and  his  improved  engine  to  drive  it,  being  the  same 
machinery,  substantially,  that  Fulton  used  eighteen 
years  after,  in  his  first  experiment  upon  the  Hudson ; 
and  being  also  the  first  combination  of  that  machinery 
which  gave  Fulton  his  success,  and  success  to  the  ap 
plication  of  steam-power  to  navigation.  That  he  at 
the  same  time  constructed  a  model  of  a  land  carriage, 
to  run  on  common  roads  (and  equally  applicable  to  a 
railroad-track),  and  fitted  his  engine,  with  special  ref 
erence  to  that  purpose,  upon  the  high-pressure  prin 
ciple,  dispensing  with  the  condenser  and  working-beam ; 
which  machinery  was  substantially  upon  the  principle 
as  that  which  gave  Stevenson  his  success,  and  which 
is  now  in  use  for  locomotive  engines. 

The  evidence  relating  to  these  inventions  of  Read 
is  mainly  derived  from  the  papers  he  left  behind  him 
at  his  decease,  the  originals  of  which  are  open  to  the 
inspection  of  any  who  may  have  the  curiosity  to  ex 
amine  them,  from  which  the  extracts  and  drawings 
contained  in  this  publication  have  been  taken.  It  is 
proposed  to  examine  this  evidence,  and  compare  it 
with  the  claims  of  other  projectors. 


CHAPTER  H. 

NATHAN  READ  l  was  a  native  of  Warren  (formerly 
Western),  Worcester  County,  Mass.,  born  July  2, 
1759.  His  ancestors  originally  came  from  New- 
castle-upon-Tyne  ;  they  then  settled  in  the  County  of 
Kent,  where  they  lived  for  several  generations.  From 
thence  they  emigrated  to  America  at  an  early  day, 
about  1632,  and  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  where 
they  resided  for  many  years.  His  grandfather  —  when 
the  country  was  new,  and  but  few  settlements  in  that 
section  of  the  State  —  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land 
in  Warren,  upon  which  he  settled,  and  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  improvement  of  his 
lands.  His  father,  Major  Reuben  Read,  was  an  officer 
in  the  Revolutionary  service ;  and  his  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Tamison  Eastman,  was  first  cousin 
to  Major-General  Nathaniel  Greene,  of  Rhode  Island. 
His  father  was  an  only  son,  and  resided  upon  the 
homestead  during  his  life.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  years, 
Nathan  commenced  his  preparatory  studies  for  College, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  summer  vacation  of  1777,  en 
tered  Harvard  University.  His  parents  were  desirous 
that  he  should  qualify  himself  for  the  ministry,  and  he 

l  The  likeness  of  Judge  Read  faces  the  title-page.  It  was  engraved  at 
Philadelphia  during  his  attendance  there  as  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  Congress,  in  1801-2,  at  which  time,  he  was  in  the  forty- 
second  or  third  year  of  his  age.  The  likeness  is  a  very  perfect  one,  and 
is  struck  from  the  original  plate,  which  has  been  preserved  in  the  family. 


6  NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

attended  Professor  SewalPs  Lectures  on  the  Hebrew 
Language.  He  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the  lan 
guage,  and  by  appointment,  gave  a  Hebrew  Oration  at 
a  public  exhibition  of  the  University ;  and  during  the 
interval  between  the  death  of  Professor  Sewall  and 
the  appointment  of  his  successor,  Mr.  Parsons,  he  was 
engaged  to  instruct  the  class  in  Hebrew.  He  gradu 
ated  in  1781,  on  which  occasion  he  was  selected  to  de 
liver  the  valedictory  address.  He  was  distinguished  as 
a  scholar,  and  left  College  with  the  respect  of  officers 
and  students.  After  graduating  he  was  engaged  in 
teaching  in  Beverly  and  Salem,  until  1783,  at  which 
time  he  was  elected  a  Tutor  in  Harvard  University, 
where  he  continued  his  labors  as  such  until  the  com 
mencement  of  1787.  He  then  resigned  his  place  as 
Tutor,  and  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  Edward  A.  Holyoke  of  Salem,  until  October,  1788, 
when  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  following  medicine  as 
a  profession,  relinquished  its  study,  and  opened  an 
apothecary  store,  in  Salem. 

While  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
Holyoke,  and  also- while  in  his  store,  he  devoted  him 
self,  more  or  less,  to  study  and  experiment  in  the  me 
chanic  arts,  which  indeed  held  a  higher  place  in  his 
mind  than  his  medical  studies  or  merchandise.  It  was 
during  this  period  of  time  that  he  invented  and  con 
structed  his  models  of  a  steamboat  and  locomotive 
carriage,  before  noticed. 

In  October,  1790,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Jeffrey,  daughter  of  William  Jeffrey,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  the 
County  of  Essex,  and  granddaughter  of  Joseph  Bow- 
dish —  August  24th,  17'Jl,  he  was  elected  a  member  of 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  7 

the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  —  April 
4th,  1795,  he  removed  to  his  farm  in  Danvers,  and 
built  a  permanent  structure  across  Water's  River, 
which  served  the  double  purpose  of  a  dam  and  bridge. 
In  1796,  he  and  his  associates  erected  and  put  in  opera 
tion  the  Salem  Iron  Factory,  for  the  manufacture  of 
chain-cables,  anchors,  and  other  materials  of  iron,  for 
ship-building,  he  having  the  chief  superintendence  of 
the  work.  While  thus  engaged,  he  invented  and  put 
in  operation  in  the  factory,  designed  for  its  own  special 
use  and  benefit,  with  a  view  to  the  saving  of  labor  and 
other  economical  purposes,  a  nail  machine,  since  exten 
sively  used  for  cutting  and  heading  nails  at  one  opera 
tion,  for  which  he  received  a  patent,  as  the  original 
inventor,  from  the  United  States  Government,  on  the 
8th  of  January,  A.  D.  1798.  This  highly  important  in 
vention  obviated  the  very  great  labor  and  expense  of 
the  manufacture  of  those  articles  by  hand.1 

In  October  1800,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of 
Congress  for  Essex  South  District,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  death  of  Judge  Sewall,  then  late 
member  from  that  district ;  and  in  November  1800,  he 
was  elected  by  the  people  of  the  district,  a  member  of 
the  succeeding  Congress,  for  two  years  from  and  after 
March  4th,  1801 ;  and  was  a  member  during  the  severe 
contest  in  the  House  of  Representatives  for  the  Presi 
dency,  between  Jefferson  and  Burr. 

In  February  1802,  while  a  resident  of  Danvers,  he 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Strong  a  special  Justice 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Es 
sex  ;  and  after  his  removal  from  Danvers  to  Belfast  in 

1  For  his  specification  and  patent  of  the  Nail  Machine,  see  Appendix, 
No.  1. 


8  NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Maine,  which  was  in  1807,  he  presided  as  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  the  Court  in  Hancock  County  for  many  suc 
cessive  years.  In  1815,  he  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Linnsean  Society  of  New  England. 

After  removing  to  Belfast,  Judge  Read  gave  most  of 
his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits  ;  but  he  often  indulged 
himself  in  new  inventions  in  the  mechanic  arts  and 
trying  experiments  therein  ;  and  during  his  whole  life 
these  and  the  natural  sciences  were  his  favorite  study. 
He  invented  several  useful  agricultural  implements,  for 
some  of  which  he  took  a  patent ;  but  constructed  them 
mainly  because  he  had  use  for  them  on  his  farm. 
His  farm  consisted  of  some  four  hundred  acres  of  land, 
finely  situated  near  the  head  of  Belfast  Bay,  lying 
upon  the  shore  just  south  of  the  City  of  Belfast. 
His  residence  overlooked  the  bay,  with  its  attractive 
scenery ;  and  here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
ever  taking  a  lively  interest  in  all  matters  of  a  pub 
lic  character,  especially  such  as  were  designed  to  im 
prove  the  moral  condition,  and  advance  the  intel 
lectual  and  social  improvement  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  lived.  He  regarded  the  cause  of  educa 
tion  as  involving  one  of  his  highest  duties ;  and  at 
an  early  day,  when  the  town  was  comparatively  new, 
he  was  instrumental  in  establishing  a  high  school  in 
Belfast,  that  the  youth  of  the  place  might  be  edu 
cated  at  home  —  the  beneficial  effects  of  which  have 
long  been  appreciated. 

He  died  at  his  residence  in  Belfast,  January  20th, 
1849,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  full  pos 
session  of  his  intellectual  powers,  except  a  few  days  at 
the  close  of  his  last  sickness.  He  possessed  a  strong 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  9 

constitution,  and  a  strong  and  highly  cultivated  mind ; 
his  aims  were  high,  and  he  soared  above  the  sordid 
interests  of  the  world.  He  never  sought  to  make 
himself  conspicuous,  or  to  give  publicity  to  his  attain 
ments  or  labors,  but  chose  rather  unobtrusive  re 
tirement.  His  deportment  was  always  gentlemanly; 
his  form  fine,  and  his  countenance  highly  intellectual. 
His  conversation  was  ever  interesting  and  instructive  ; 
and  he  lived  and  died  with  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
all  who  knew  him.  He  was  the  last  surviving  member 
of  his  College  class;  and  with  two  exceptions,  —  Judge 
Farrar  and  James  Lovell,  —  the  oldest  living  graduate 
of  Harvard  University. 

As  early  as  1788,  as  already  noticed,  while  a  resi 
dent  of  Salem,  he  became  especially  interested  in  the 
purpose  of  applying  steam-power  to  the  practical  end 
of  propelling  boats  and  land  carriages.  He  foresaw 
the  importance  of  attaining  such  a  purpose,  and  set 
himself  to  work  to  contrive  the  necessary  machinery 
to  effect  it,  which  at  that  time  was  felt  by  all  intelli 
gent  men  who  had  given  their  attention  to  the  sub 
ject,  to  be  a  desideratum, — a  work  yet  to  be  accom 
plished.  The  idea  as  applied  to  boats  was  not  new ; 
various  experiments  had  been  tried,  but  were  mainly 
directed  to  the  mode  of  propulsion,  without  so  much 
attention  to  the  motive  power;  and  all  the  experi 
ments  hitherto  tried  had  proved  a  failure.  To  show 
the  nature  of  those  experiments,  I  will  briefly  notice 
them  in  their  order,  that  the  reader  may  judge  of  the 
cause  of  their  failure,  and  of  the  necessity  that  then 
existed  of  great  improvements  in  the  steam-engine,  in 
order  to  make  the  application  of  steam-power  to  boats 
and  land  carriages  successful. 


CHAPTER  III. 

IT  has  been  seen  that  Watt's  double-acting  condens 
ing  engine,  containing  the  continuous  rotary  principle, 
was  not  introduced  to  public  use  in  a  working  form 
until  1787,  which  principle,  though  not  so  designed  by 
Watt,  was  one  of  the  necessary  prerequisites  to  a 
successful  application  of  steam-power  to  navigation. 
Hence  the  inference  is  beyond  dispute,  that  success 
in  the  invention  of  the  steamboat  before  that  time  had 
not  been  effected.  Indeed  it  will  appear,  that  what 
ever  had  been  done,  both  in  speculation  and  experi 
ment,  proved  that  there  was  no  lack  of  the  idea,  or 
want  of  faith,  in  navigating  boats  by  steam ;  but  the 
faith  was  without  the  appropriate  works. 

The  earliest  pretension  we  have  on  the  subject  of 
steam  navigation,  has  been  dug  up  from  the  national 
archives  at  Simancas  in  Spain,  and  purports  to  be  a 
paper  discovered  in  the  year  1825,  long  after  steam  nav 
igation  went  into  effect  both  in  America  and  Europe. 

The  following  is  a  translation  l  of  the  account,  from 
"Navarrete's  Coleccion  de  los  Viages,"  etc.,  Madrid, 
1825  :2  — 

"  Senor  Don  Thomas  Gonzales  has  sent  me  from  Siman 
cas  the  following  notice :  — 

1  Credit  is  due  to  the  Hon.  George  P.  Marsh  for  the  original  account, 
and  the  translation  of  it. 

2  Vol.  i.  p.  cxxvii. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          11 

"  '  Blasco  de  Garay,  a  sea-captain,  proposed  to  the  Em 
peror  and  King,  Charles  V.,  in  the  year  1543,  an  engine  to 
move  vessels  and  large  ships,  even  in  a  calm,  without  oars  or 
sails. 

" '  In  spite  of  the  obstacles  and  opposition  which  the  proj 
ect  met,  the  Emperor  ordered  trial  to  be  made,  and  this  in 
fact  took  place  in  the  port  of  Barcelona,  on  the  17th  of  June 
in  the  year  1543. 

" '  Garay  never  publicly  exhibited  his  machinery,  but  at 
the  time  of  the  trial,  it  was  observed  that  it  consisted  of  a 
large  caldron  of  boiling  water,  and  wheels  of  propulsion 
attached  to  the  two  sides  of  the  ship. 

" '  The  experiment  was  tried  with  a  vessel  of  200  tons  — 
which  had  lately  arrived  from  Colibre  with  a  cargo  of  wheat, 
—  called  The  Trinity,  and  commanded  by  Captain  Pedro  de 
Scarza. 

" '  As  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Charles  V.  and  the 
Prince  Philip,  his  son,  there  were  present  on  this  occasion, 
Don  Henry  of  Toledo,  the  governor,  Don  Pedro  Cardona,  the 
treasurer  Ranago,  the  vice-chancellor,  the  master  account 
ant  of  Catalonia,  D.  Francisco  Gralla,  and  several  other 
persons  of  condition  both  Castilians  and  Catalans,  and 
among  them  several  sea-captains,  who  were  present  at  the 
experiment,  some  on  board,  others  on  the  beach. 

" '  In  the  report  made  to  the  Emperor  and  the  Prince, 
they  all  agreed  in  praising  the  machinery,  and  particularly 
the  facility  of  steerage  of  the  ship.  The  treasurer  Ranago, 
who  was  unfriendly  to  the  project,  states  that  the  vessel  would 
make  but  two  leagues  in  three  hours ;  that  the  machinery 
was  complicated  and  expensive,  and  that  there  was  much 
danger  of  the  frequent  bursting  of  the  caldron.  The  other 
commissioners  declared,  that  the  vessel  would  put  about 
twice  as  quick  as  a  galley  by  ordinary  navigation,  and  that 
she  made  at  least  a  league  an  hour. 


12  NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

" '  The  experiment  being  concluded,  Garay  took  out  the 
engine  which  he  had  set  up  in  the  vessel,  and  having  depos 
ited  the  wood-work  of  it  in  the  arsenal  at  Barcelona,  kept 
the  rest  in  his  own  possession. 

" '  Notwithstanding  the  objections  raised  by  Ranago,  the 
plan  of  Garay  was  approved,  and  if  the  expedition  in  which 
Charles  was  then  engaged  had  not  prevented  it,  he  would 
no  doubt  have  encouraged  its  prosecution.  However  he 
promoted  the  inventor  one  grade,  gave  him  a  compensation 
of  200,000  maravedis,  ordered  all  his  expenses  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  general  treasury,  and  conferred  other  favors  upon 
him. 

" '  All  this  appears  from  the  original  records  and  proceed 
ings  deposited  in  the  royal  archives  of  Simancas,  among  the 
state  papers  belonging  to  the  affairs  of  Catalonia,  and  of  the 
department  of  war,  both  military  and  naval,  for  the  year 
1543.  "'THOMAS  GONZALES. 

"  SIMANCAS,  17th  of  August,  1825." 

Mr.  Marsh  adds  the  following  note  to  his  transla 
tion  :  — 

"BURLINGTON,  March  26,  1860. 

"  DEAR  SIR, —  The  above  is  the  translation  I  mentioned. 
Navarrete  is  a  man  of  very  high  authority.  He  may  have 
been  imposed  upon,  but  as  Gonzales  must  have  been  offi 
cially  connected  with  the  office  of  the  archives,  it  seems  im 
probable  that  he  would  have  fabricated  the  story,  though  it 
looks  a  little  incredible  upon  the  face  of  it. 
"  Yours  truly, 

*'  GEORGE  P.  MARSH. 
"Hon.  D.  READ." 

It  would  not  be  regarded  as  proper  to  treat  the 
above  account  as  a  fabrication  without  further  infor 
mation  on  the  subject.  It  purports  to  be  a  matter  of 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  13 

public  record,  and  is  detailed  by  Navarrete  (who  is  re 
puted  to  be  a  faithful  historian),  no  doubt  as  he  re 
ceived  it  from  Gonzales.  Under  those  circumstances 
the  account  must  be  taken  as  true,  unless  there  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  it  found  its  way  into  the  archives 
as  a  hoax,  or  what  would  be  more  likely,  as  a  fraud 
ulent  mode  of  attaching  to  Spain  the  credit  of  invent 
ing  both  the  steam-engine  and  the  steainboat.  As  we 
trace  the  connected  history  of  the  invention  of  the 
steam-engine,  it  is,  however,  extremely  difficult  to 
arrive  at  any  conclusion  favorable  to  the  authenticity 
of  the  account. 

The  experiment  of  De  Garay  is  stated  to  have  been 
made  in  1543.  This  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  the  steam-engine  was  so  far  invented  as  to  be 
applied  to  any  working  purpose,  and  two  hundred  and 
forty  years  before  Watt  made  it  capable  of  turning  a 
crank,  and  long  before  we  have  any  reliable  history 
that  steam  was  ever  thought  of  as  a  motive  power. 
In  1543,  and  from  that  time  back  to  Hero  of  Alexan 
dria,  who  lived  some  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  and  who  was  the  first  to  notice 
the  expansive  force  of  steam,  of  whom  we  have  any 
account,1  it  had  never  been  applied  to  any  mechanical 
use  of  moment.  Hero,  to  gratify  his  curiosity  and 
love  of  science,  conducted  steam  from  an  iron  pot  into 
a  small  hollow  ball  or  sphere,  with  two  pipes  passing 
out  of  it  at  opposite  sides  and  bent  at  the  ends  in 
opposite  directions,  through  which  the  steam  would 
escape,  and  by  its  reacting  force,  give  to  the  ball 

1  Stuart's  Anecdotes  of  the  Steam-engine. 


14  NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

a  rapid  rotary  motion,  to  the  delight  of  the  inventor. 
(See  figures  Nos.  1  and  2.)  These  simple  toys,  with 
another  more  simple  still,  called  the  seolipile,1  or  ball 
of  jiEolus,  used  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  —  and  we 
have  one  account  of  its  being  used  by  the  Normans  in 
Staffordshire  after  the  Norman  Conquest,2  —  constituted 
all  there  was  of  the  steam-engine,  not  only  at  the  time, 
but  for  a  long  time  after  the  reputed  experiment  of 
De  Garay  at  Barcelona. 

The  rcolipile  consisted  of  a  hollow  ball  of  the  size 
of  a  common  pot,  made  of  cast-iron,  with  a  small  open 
pipe  connected  with  the  top,  and  passing  off  in  a  hori 
zontal  direction.  (See  No.  3.)  By  filling  the  ball 
partly  with  water  and  placing  it  over  a  fire,  the  steam, 
as  it  was  forced  through  the  pipe,  produced  a  lateral 
current  of  air,  and  thus  served  for  the  bellows  of  that 
day,  for  blowing  up  flame  and  producing  combustion,3 
like  the  blacksmith's  bellows  of  the  present  day.  It 
being  a  windy  little  instrument,  was  named  after  ^Eo- 
lus,  the  god  of  the  winds.  The  seolipile  referred  to 
in  Staffordshire,  was  somewhat  different  in  its  con 
struction,  and  used  for  a  different  purpose.  It  was 
connected  with  one  of  the  old  feudal  customs  of  Eng 
land,  and  was  called  Jack  of  Hilton.  For  the  amuse 
ment  of  the  reader  I  will  give  the  description  of  it  as 
related  in  Plot's  "  History  of  Staffordshire."  4 

"  Yet  there  are  many  old  customs  in  use  within  memory, 

1  Vitruvius,  lib.  i.  chap.  vi. 

2  Plot's  History  of  Staffordshire,  p.  433. 
8  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  202. 

4  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  by  Robert  Plot,  LL.  D.,  p.  433.    Ox 
ford  edition,  A.  D.  1686. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  15 

of  whose  originals  I  could  find  no  tolerable  account,  that 
possibly  might  commence  as  high  as  these  times :  such  as 
the  service  due  from  the  Lord  of  Essington  in  this  county 
(Stafford)  to  the  Lord  of  Hilton,  about  a  mile  distant, 
namely,  that  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Essington  shall 
bring  a  goose  every  New  Year's  Day,  and  drive  it  round 
the  fire  in  the  hall  at  Hilton,  at  least  three  times  (which  he 
is  bound  to  do  as  mean  lord),  whilst  Jack  of  Hilton  is  blow 
ing  the  fire.  Now,  Jack  of  Hilton  is  a  hollow  little  image 
of  brass,  of  about  twelve  inches  high,  kneeling  upon  his  left 
knee,  and  holding  his  right  hand  upon  his  head,  .... 
having  a  little  hole  in  the  place  of  the  mouth  about  the  big 
ness  of  a  great  pin's  head,  and  another  on  the  back  about 
two  thirds  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  at  which  last  hole  it  is 
filled  with  water,  it  holding  about  four  pints  and  a  quarter, 
which,  when  set  to  a  strong  fire,  evaporates  after  the  same 
manner  as  in  an  seolipile,  and  vents  itself  at  the  smaller  hole 
at  the  mouth  in  a  constant  blast,  blowing  the  fire  so  strongly 
that  it  is  very  audible,  and  makes  a  sensible  impression  in 
that  part  of  the  fire  where  the  blast  lights." 

With  these  two  simple  things,  representing  all  there 
was  of  the  steam-engine  at  that  day,  had  De  Garay 
suddenly  brought  one  into  existence,  of  sufficient  mag 
nitude  and  power  to  propel  a  ship  of  two  hundred 
tons  burden  about  the  Bay  of  Barcelona,  it  would 
seem  that  an  achievement  so  '  onderful  before  the 
world  would  have  had  some  historical  mention  of  it 
aside  from  the  record  which  for  the  first  time  came  to 
light  in  1825.  Moreover,  with  what  propriety  can  we 
suppose  that  any  single  mind,  "  in  the  year  1543,"  a 
mere  twelvemonth,  at  a  period  too  when  the  dark  ages 
still  cast  their  shadows  over  the  intellect  of  man,  and 


16  NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

the  arts  and  sciences  were  but  little  known,  was  capa 
ble  of  grasping  the  invention,  both  of  the  steam-en 
gine  and  steamboat,  and  that  without  any  previous 
invention  of  the  kind  to  lead  the  thought  to  such  a 
conception,  or  rule  or  formula,  to  give  direction,  in  the 
construction  of  its  complicated  machinery  ? 

As  we  look  forward  from  the  reputed  experiment  of 
De  Garay  we  are  still  more  struck  with  the  difficul 
ties  that  come  in  the  way  of  credit  and  belief  in  the 
account.  Cardan  was  the  first  modern  author  who 
makes  any  allusion  to  the  subject  of  steam.1  He 
seems  to  have  had  some  knowledge  of  its  expansive 
force  ;  and  in  the  course  of  some  experiments  in  chem 
istry  he  was  making  he  discovered  that  steam  might  be 
condensed  and  a  vacuum  thus  produced.  He  gave 
an  account  of  his  experiments  in  1576,  in  a  work  he 
then  published,  —  being  some  thirty-three  years  after 
De  Garay's  reputed  experiment.  This  was  the  first 
known  step,  after  Hero's  invention  of  the  seolipile, 
that  led  to  the  invention  of  the  steam-engine,  and  it 
was  an  important  step. 

Battista  Porta  published  a  work  in  1601,  in  which 
he  gives  some  account  of  experiments  made  by  him 
in  steam  ;  wherein  he  showed  the  effects  of  condensa 
tion,  and  the  vacuum  thereby  produced,  by  forcing  up 
water  to  fill  the  vacuum  by  atmospheric  pressure. 
He  also  invented  a  machine  for  raising  water  by  the 
expansive  force  of  steam  alone ;  causing  it  to  press 
downward  upon  the  surface  of  the  water  in  a  cistern, 

i  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  203 ;  Stuart's  Anecdotes  of  the  Steam- 
engine,  p.  19. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          17 

and  thus  force  it  up  through  a  pipe  passing  down 
into  the  water ; l  and  he  in  the  mean  time,  determined 
the  relative  bulk  of  steam  and  water.2  His  experi 
ments  both  in  mechanism  and  chemistry,  effected 
another  important  step  in  the  invention  of  the  steam- 
engine. 

Solomen  de  Caus,  about  forty  years  after  Porta,  was 
the  next  to  make  any  experiments  in  steam.  In  1641  > 
he  constructed  a  machine  to  raise  water  by  means  of 
a  boiler  and  pipe,  and  the  downward  pressure  of  steam 
upon  the  surface  of  the  water.3  His  machine  was 
similar  in  principle  and  construction  to  Porta's,  and 
it  does  not  appear  that  he  made  any  very  great  im 
provements  upon  it.  He  sought  the  patronage  of  the 
French  government  to  aid  him  in  his  steam  projects ; 
and  to  get  rid  of  his  importunities,  it  is  related  of  him 
that  they  declared  him  a  crazy  man,  and  confined 
him  in  the  Bicetre,  the  insane  hospital  at  Paris.  This 
was  near  a  hundred  years  after  the  reputed  experi 
ment  of  De  Garay  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  French 
nation. 

About  twenty  years  after  De  Caus,  the  Marquis  of 
Worcester  constructed  a  steam-engine,  worked  by  the 
expansive  force  of  steam,  and  set  it  to  pumping  up 
water  in  Vauxhall  Garden  in  London.4  This  was 
the  first  working  experiment,  ever  tried  by  steam, 
above  the  aeolipile,  and  has  given  to  the  Marquis 
of  Worcester  the  reputation  of  being  the  first  who 
invented  the  steam-engine.  It  was  rude  in  its  con- 

1  See  No.  4.  2  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  204. 

3  See  No.  5.    Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  91. 

4  Stuart's  Anecdotes  of  the  Steam-engine,  vol.  i.  1829. 


18          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE, 

struction,  and  not  put  to  any  steady  use,  but  only  to 
show  by  experiment  that  steam  might  be  made  to  fling 
water  into  the  air  some  thirty  or  forty  feet,  to  the  as 
tonishment  of  the  London  public  ;  and  in  1663,  —  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years  after  De  Garay's  account, — 
he  obtained  an  act  of  Parliament  for  his  "  Water-com 
manding  Engine."  1  Afterwards,  when  the  steam- 
engine  became  so  far  improved  as  to  make  it  a  valuable 
motive  power,  English  and  French  writers  entered 
into  a  controversy  upon  the  subject,  the  former  claim 
ing  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  and  the  latter  De  Caus, 
as  the  inventor  of  the  steam-engine  —  each  class 
of  writers  prompted  by  national  pride.  They  seemed 
to  have  no  knowledge  of  De  Garay's  experiment,  as 
no  allusion  was  made  by  them  to  the  subject. 

During  the  very  time  the  Marquis  of  Worcester 
was  trying  his  experiments,  and  following  thereafter, 
a  school  of  illustrious  men  in  Europe  were  engaged 
in  scientific  study  and  experiment.  Galileo,  who  was 
by  the  Inquisition  and  the  rack  forced  to  renounce 
those  truths  in  natural  science  which  he  had  dis 
covered,  conceived  the  true  nature  of  a  vacuum,  and 
communicated  his  ideas  to  his  pupil  Torricelli ;  who 
after  the  death  of  Galileo  carried  out  the  suggestion 
by  a  series  of  experiments,  in  which  he  succeeded 
in  producing  a  more  perfect  vacuum,2  and  in  the 
mean  time  invented  the  barometer.  De  Guericke 3 
meanwhile  invented  the  air-pump,  and  also  the  cylinder 
and  piston ;  he  exhausted  his  cylinder  with  the  air- 

1  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  93. 

a  Ibid.  p.  101;   Cyclopaedia  of  Biography,  p.  312. 

8  De  Arte  Mechanicd  flydraulicopneumaticd,  1657. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          19 

pump,  and  established  the  principle  of  atmospheric 
pressure  by  means  of  the  piston.  Pascal  determined 
the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  by  its  pressure  upon  the 
piston,  and  the  variation  in  its  weight  at  different  alti 
tudes.1  Boyle  also  invented  an  air-pump,  and  assisted 
Torricelli  in  making  his  experiments  at  Florence. 
They  together  constructed  a  machine  to  raise  weights 
by  atmospheric  pressure  alone,  which  was  the  origin  of 
the  atmospheric  engine.2  But  it  does  not  appear  that 
any  of  these  distinguished  men  attempted  to  produce 
a  vacuum  by  condensation,  which  idea  all  this  time 
rested  with  the  suggestions  of  Cardan  and  the  experi 
ments  of  Porta.  Yet  the  discoveries  they  severally 
made  were  not  only  necessary,  but  furnished  important 
steps  in  the  invention  of  the  steam-engine. 

The  danger  of  explosion  from  the  expansive  force  of 
steam,  during  these  experiments  had  been  discovered  ; 
and  Denys  Papin,3  in  1688,  to  remedy  the  difficulty, 
invented  the  safety-valve,  one  step  more  in  the  in 
vention  of  the  steam-engine.  He  also  attempted  tc 
produce  a  vacuum  by  rarefying  the  air  in  the  cylin 
der  by  heat,  then  to  raise  the  piston  by  the  explo 
sive  force  of  gunpowder.  These  failing,  he  built  a 
fire  under  the  cylinder,  which  he  partly  filled  with 
water,  and  found  the  steam  would  lift  the  piston  to 
the  top,  and  by  removing  the  fire,  as  the  steam  cooled, 
the  piston  would  fall.  But  the  idea  of  applying  and 
removing  his  fire  from  under  the  cylinder,  every  time 
he  gave  an  upward  and  downward  motion  to  the 

1  Nouvelli's  Experiences  touchant  le  Vlnde. 

2  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  101. 

3  Aria  Eruditorum,  1688  and  1690. 


20          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

piston,  presented  a  practical  difficulty  that  discouraged 
him  ;  and  he  gave  up  the  subject  for  the  time  be 
ing. 

Some  ten  or  twelve  years  after,  Savary  l  happened 
to  think  that  PapnVs  difficulty  might  be  overcome 
-by  having  a  boiler  separate  from  the  cylinder,  and 
by  applying  cold  water  outside  the  cylinder  to  cool 
the  steam  within  it  more  rapidly.  This  worked 
better,  but  gave  no  practical  importance  to  the  engine 
as  a  working  power,  but  plainly  disclosed  the  fact 
that  its  utility  depended  on  some  contrivance  to  pro 
duce  a  sudden  condensation,  which  would  give  to  the 
piston  a  motion  upward  and  downward  equally  sud 
den.  Savary,  however,  did  not  succeed  in  effecting 
this  grand  purpose ;  but  his  experiments  were  highly 
important  in  the  progress  of  the  invention,  for  which 
he  obtained  a  patent  by  act  of  Parliament,  in  1698  ;2 
and  drawings  were  made  of  his  engine  —  being  the 
first  known  time  the  steam-engine  was  represented 
on  paper. 

The  next  advance  in  the  progress  of  this  invention 
was  made  by  Newcomen  and  Cawley,  in  1705.  They 
inclosed  the  cylinder  with  another  of  larger  size,  with 
a  space  between  of  eight  or  ten  inches  for  cold  water 
for  condensation  —  an  improvement  upon  Savary's  plan 
of  affusing  cold  water  on  the  surface  ;  —  they  also  ap 
plied  leather  packing  to  tighten  the  piston,  and  cov 
ered  the  top  of  it  with  water  resting  upon  it  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  improved  the  engine  by  attach 
ing  eduction-pipes,  valves,  cocks,  and  a  variety  of  small 

1  Phil  Trans.  Abr.  vol.  iv.  198,  A.  D.  1699. 

2  Woolhouse  On  the  Steam-engine,  pp.  5,  6,  7. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          21 

and  ingenious  work,  to  give  the  machinery  a  more  per 
fect  action.  They  also  invented  the  working-beam, 
and  by  a  mere  accident 1  discovered  the  process  of 
injecting  cold  water  into  the  cylinder  for  condensa 
tion,  without  which  the  condensing  engine  must  have 
remained  comparatively  useless.  Noticing  that  the 
piston  moved  with  more  rapidity  and  force  than  usual, 
they  searched  for  the  cause,  and  discovered  a  hole 
through  the  piston  where  a  plug  had  worked  out  and 
let  the  cold  water  into  the  cylinder.  A  sudden  con 
densation  of  the  steam  and  more  rapid  motion  of  the 
piston  was  the  result.  This  opened  to  their  minds  the 
idea  of  injecting  cold  water  into  the  cylinder  —  which 
plan  was  thereupon  adopted.  They  invented  and  ap 
plied  for  that  purpose  the  injection-pipe,  with  its  ingen 
ious  apparatus,  through  which  a  jet  of  water  was  flung 
directly  into  the  cylinder,  and  the  steam  almost  instan 
taneously  condensed.  This  gave  a  corresponding  move 
ment  to  the  piston,  and  the  steam-engine,  for  the  first 
time,  if  I  am  allowed  the  expression,  had  the  breath  of 
life  breathed  into  it  and  became  a  living  soul. 

This  invention  made  way  for  another,  equally  curi 
ous  and  of  much  importance.  The  injection-pipe  and 
apparatus  above  mentioned,  were  controlled  by  two 
valves,  the  one  opening  and  the  other  closing  alter 
nately,  and  controlling  the  action  of  the  engine. 
These  valves  were  worked  by  hand  brakes,  and  being 
easily  done,  they  usually  employed  a  boy  to  tend  them. 
A  lad  of  the  name  of  Humphrey  Potter,2  getting  tired 

1  Deragulier's  Ex.  Phil.,  vol.  ii.  p.  533. 

2  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  119.     Renwick   On  the   Steam-engine,  p. 
220. 


22          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

of  his  work,  took  it  into  his  head  to  attach  the  brakes 
or  handles  that  worked  the  valves  to  the  working 
beam,  and  leave  them  to  be  moved  by  its  alternating 
motion,  while  he  could  rest  his  weary  self  and  enjoy 
his  play.  This  incident  resulted  in  the  invention  of 
the  scoggin  (and  afterwards  the  governor),  which  not 
only  gave  a  more  regular  and  uniform  motion  to  the 
piston,  but  increased  its  upward  and  downward  move 
ments  from  about  eight  to  sixteen  times  in  a  minute, 
thus  doubling  the  effective  power  of  the  engine.  It 
thus  became,  with  the  exception  of  fire  to  feed  it,  a 
self-governing  machine,  settling  at  once  upon  that 
degree  of  motion  which  the  most  free  injection  of 
steam,  and  sudden  condensation,  could  give  to  it. 

It  was  now  thought  that  the  steam-engine  was  per 
fected  ;  and  the  young  Hercules,  though  rough  and 
clurnsy  in  its  workmanship,  and  awkward  in  its  move 
ments,  was.  for  the  first  time,  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge,  set  to  work  in  good  earnest  pumping  water 
and  raising  ore  from  the  mines. 

The  engine  of  Newcomen,  however,  was  far  from 
being  perfect,  either  in  the  principles  of  its  construc 
tion,  or  in  its  workmanship.  It  was  yet  incapable  of 
propelling  a  boat  or  locomotive  engine,  yet  it  labored 
away  in  the  mines  and  nowhere  else,  for  the  next  eighty 
years,  without  any  essential  improvement.1  Smeaton, 
however,  improved  the  finish  and  proportions  of  the 
machinery  and  constructed  an  engine,  from  which  he 
made  a  table  of  proportions  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
mechanics  engaged  in  their  construction.2  It  may  be 

1  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  chap.  xix. 

2  Smeaton's  Iteports,  vol.  i.  p.  223,  and  vol.  ii.  p.  338. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          23 

well  to  observe  that  the  engine  of  Newcomen  was 
moved  by  atmospheric  pressure  alone,  and  steam  was 
used  for  no  other  purpose  than  as  a  means  of  producing 
a  vacuum,  not  even  to  force  up  the  piston,  which  was 
raised  by  a  counterpoise  or  weight ;  it  is  hence  called 
the  atmospheric  engine.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the 
steam-engine,  when  it  came  into  the  hands  of  Watt, 
its  great  improver. 

The  first  step  taken  by  Watt l  was  directed  to  a  more 
economical  use  of  steam,  and  to  that  end  he  entered 
upon  a  series  of  experiments  to  determine  whether  the 
estimated  densities  of  steam  and  water  were  correct. 
He  found  that  water  when  changed  into  steam  expanded 
from  seventeen  to  eighteen  hundred  times  its  bulk  ; 
and  on  this  calculation  ascertained  that  six  times  as 
much  steam  as  was  necessary  was  used  at  each  move 
ment  of  the  piston.  He  invented  the  condenser,  a 
vessel  separate  and  distinct  from  the  cylinder,  to  rem 
edy  this  great  waste  of  steam.  The  steam  was  con 
ducted  into  the  condenser  before  it  was  cooled,  and  he 
thus  kept  the  cylinder  hot;  at  the  same  time  he  closed 
the  upper  end  of  the  cylinder,  and  added  another  in 
duction-pipe,  making  one  above  as  well  as  below  the 
piston,  by  which  the  steam  was  alternately  let  into  the 
cylinder,  as  the  piston  rose  and  fell ;  and  substituted 
steam  force,  instead  of  atmospheric  pressure,  for  forcing 
the  piston  down,  and  in  lieu  of  the  weight  for  forcing 
it  up.  These  improvements  gave  twice  the  power  at 
less  than  half  the  cost  of  the  Newcomen  engine.  In 
1769  a  working-engine  was  constructed  after  this  plan. 

1  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  recently  published,  we  regard  as  the  best 
authority  in  relation  to  "Watt's  improvements. 


24  NATHAN  READ  AND    TEE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Soon  after  this,  Watt  entered  into  copartnership  with 
Mr.  Boulton  of  Birmingham,  and  the  distinguished  firm 
of  Boulton  and  Watt  was  thereupon  established. 

Boulton  was  a  man  of  fortune,  and  liberal  withal, 
and  Watt  now  had  every  facility  to  give  free  play  to  his 
inventive  powers  ;  and  he  handled  the  steam-engine  as 
a  half-finished  thing.  He  readily  saw,  if  it  could  be 
so  constructed  as  to  be  used  in  mills  and  factories  as 
well  as  in  the  mines,  it  would  vastly  extend  its  useful 
ness  and  increase  its  demand.  This  could  only  be  done 
by  giving  it  a  continuous  rotary  motion,  and  thus  en 
abling  it  to  turn  a  shaft  or  wheel  with  uniformity,  and 
to  overcome  the  dead  points  of  the  piston,  or  momen 
tary  state  of  rest  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder,  in  revers 
ing  its  movements. 

To  accomplish  this  desirable  end,  he  constructed  an 
engine  with  two  cylinders  instead  of  one  ;  and  applied 
his  steam  force  to  two  cranks  on  the  same  shaft  set  at 
an  angle  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  degrees  from  each 
other,  with  a  fly-wheel  and  weight  on  the  periphery 
of  the  wheel,  at  an  angle  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
degrees  from  each  crank.  But  since  the  above  in 
vention  of  the  double  engine,  it  has  been  found  that 
the  double-acting  cylinder,  and  single  crank,  with  the 
fly-wheel,  are  all  that  are  requisite  to  give  this 
motion. 

He  also  invented  the  parallel  motion,  by  which  the 
angular  motion  of  the  piston-rod,  hitherto  worked  by 
a  rack  and  chain  attached  to  the  end  of  the  working 
beam,  was  changed  to  a  direct  rectilineal  motion. 
This  was  looked  upon  by  other  engineers  as  a  curious 
"mechanical  puzzle,"  and  Watt  himself  said,  "  that  he 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          25 

was  more   proud  of  his  parallel  motion   than  of  any 
other  invention  he  ever  made."1 

He  also  invented  the  throttle- valve,  by  which,  from 
the  action  of  the  engine  itself,  the  same  amount  of 
steam  always  entered  the  cylinder,  and  gave  a  steady, 
uniform  motion  to  the  spindles  used  in  the  manufac 
ture  of  cotton  and  other  fibrous  substances ;  and  to 
regulate  those  valves  without  personal  attention,  he 
invented  that  elegant  and  ingenious  part  of  the  steam- 
engine,  the  governor,  by  which  the  steam  is  cut  off 
from  the  cylinder  as  the  engine  increases  in  motion,  or 
is  let  in  as  it  decreases,  until  their  action  and  the  action 
of  the  engine  are  balanced.  He  also  invented  the 
counter,  gauge,  and  indicator,  all  useful  in  their  place. 

It  was  a  slow  process  to  construct  the  first  engine, 
after  these  inventions  were  completed,  embracing  as  it 
did  these  new,  curious,  and  complex  additions  to  its 
machinery,  without  any  rules,  plans,  or  drafts  for 
them,  other  than  such  as  lay  in  Watt's  own  head,  — 
his  marvelous,  unrivaled,  inventive  brain,  —  and  they 
were  four  years  constructing  the  first  engine  designed 
for  sale.  This  was  completed  in  1786,  and  put  at  work 
in  the  Albion  Mills  in  1787.  Thus  Watt,  who,  to  use 
the  words  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  "  stood  at  the 
head  of  all  inventors  in  all  ages  and  nations,"  by  one 
invention  after  another  at  length  succeeded  in  complet 
ing  his  double-acting  rotary  condensing  engine,  but 
far,  even  yet  from  being  fitted  for  propelling  boats  or 
land  carriages. 

I  have  thus  gone  through  with  a  concise  account  of 
the  invention  of  the  steam-engine,  from  the  experi- 

i  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  242. 


26  NATE  AN  READ  AND   TEE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

ments  of  Hero  to  the  time  Watt  completed  his  im 
provements,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  difficult 
it  would  have  been  for  De  Garay  or  any  one  individual 
to  have  conceived  this  whole  invention,  and  so  far 
perfected  it  in  the  short  time  of  five  or  six  months  (as 
the  account  shows)  as  to  have  brought  it  to  a  practical 
working  condition,  for  any  purpose  ;  'much  more  to 
have  applied  it  also  in  the  same  space  of  time  to  the 
propulsion  of  a  vessel  of  the  size  spoken  of  in  De 
Garay's  experiment. 

In  addition  to  the  above  it  is  proper  here  to  notice, 
that  the  account  of  De  Garay  presents  the  only  in 
stance  in  which  Spain  pretends  to  have  taken  any 
part  either  in  the  invention  of  the  steam-engine  or 
steamboat.  After  the  reputed  experiment  of  De  Garay, 
and  during  that  period  of  time  when  these  inventions 
were  in  progress,  embracing  some  two  hundred  and 
sixty  years,  and  while  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Great 
Britain,  and  the  United  States  were  all  more  or  less 
engaged  in  the  work,  and  making  their  contributions 
to  it,  Spain,  for  aught  that  appears,  was  wholly  in 
sensible  to  the  subject.  This  surely  does  not  look  as 
though  she  had  at  a  former  day  interested  herself  in 
the  matter  :  if  so,  her  genius  had  departed.1 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  been  informed  that  the  paper 
referred  to,  purporting  to  be  found  in  the  archives  at  Simancas,  has  been 
proved  a  forgery.  —  AUTHOR. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

As  we  proceed  with  the  invention  of  the  steamboat, 
we  find  that  the  thought  of  applying  steam  to  nav 
igation  was  entertained  by  nearly  all  the  principal  pro 
jectors  of  the  steam-engine.  De  Caus,1  the  Marquis  of 
Worcester,  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  Papin,  Savary,  ISTew- 
comen,  Watt,  and  others,  entertained  the  idea  that  it 
might  be  so  applied,  but  no  one  of  these  individuals 
ever  made  the  attempt  to  try  it.  Paddle-wheels  had 
occasionally  been  used  from  an  early  period  to  propel 
boats  by  animal  power,  even  by  the  Egyptians,  and 
afterwards  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  ;  and  the  latter 
in  one  of  the  Punic  wars  are  said  to  have  transported 
their  troops  to  Sicily  on  boats  with  wheels  turned  by 
oxen.  Valturius  in  his  "  Science  of  War,"  published 
in  1472,  speaks  of  this  mode  of  transportation.  They 
were  also  mentioned  by  William  Bourne  in  1578.2 
And  Prince  Rupert,  after  retiring  from  his  military 
life,  turned  his  attention  to  scientific  pursuits,  and 
about  1680,  constructed  a  boat  upon  the  Thames,  pro 
pelled  by  paddle-wheels,  which  were  moved  by  horses,3 
and  others  used  them  in  like  way.  So  it  is  quite 
evident  that  the  use  of  wheels  of  some  sort,  moved  by 

1  See  De  Caus'  Book,  Les  Raisons  des  Forces  Mouvantes,  etc.    Paris, 
1615. 

2  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  330. 

8  Papin's  account  from  Acta  Erudilorum,  Leipsic,  for  1690,  pp.  410- 
414. 


28          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

animals  to  propel  boats,  was  an  old  matter,  but  the 
application  of  steam-power  to  paddle-wheels  was  of 
more  recent  origin. 

It  is  claimed  in  England,  "  that  one  Jon.  Hulls,1  on 
the  21st  of  December,  1736  (the  same  year  Watt  was 
born),  obtained  a  patent  from  Parliament  for  what  may 
strictly  be  considered  a  steamboat."  Hull's  theory  — 
for  it  appears  he  never  tried  any  experiment  —  was  cer 
tainly  a  very  ingenious  one.2  He  published  a  pamphlet 
which  he  entitled,  "  A  Description  and  Draught  of  a 
new  invented  Machine  for  carrying  Vessels  and  Ships 
out  of  or  into  any  Harbour,  Port,  or  River,  against  Wind 
and  Tide,  or  in  a  Calm."  He  made  a  drawing  of  his 
proposed  boat,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  intended 
to  use  one  paddle-wheel  in  the  centre  of  the  stern  of 
the  boat,  to  be  turned  by  means  of  ropes  and  pul 
leys,  so  arranged  as  to  give  his  wheel  a  continuous 
rotary  motion.3  The  plan  of  his  boat  has  but  little 
resemblance  to  a  steamboat ;  and  his  machinery  would 
lack  the  two  essential  qualities  of,  strength  and  dura 
bility.  He  intended  it  only  for  towing  other  vessels 
out  of  or  into  harbors,  and  designed  to  move  it  by  the 
Newcomen  engine,  the  only  engine  then  in  use,  and 
that  so  imperfect  as  to  be  in  no  way  adequate  to  the 

1  Woolhouse  On  the  Steam-engine,  vol.  i.  p.  14.  Woodcroft's  History 
of  Early  Steam  Navigation. 

a  Hulls'  engine :  Let  a,  b,  c,  be  three  wheels  on  one  axis,  and  d,  e,  two 
wheels  bore  on  another  axis.  A  with  ratchets  so  as  to  move  the  axis  only 
when  they  move  forward;  /,  g,  h,  are  three  ropes,  and  P  is  the  piston  of  the 
engine.  When  the  piston  descends,  the  wheels  a,  6,  c,  move  forward,  and 
the  ropes  <?,  h,  cause  the  wheels  c,  d,  to  move  the  wheel  e  forward  and  the 
wheel  d  backwards,  and  the  latter  raises  the  weight  G,  which  moves  the 
wheel  d  forward  during  the  ascent  of  the  piston ;  consequently  the  axis  A, 
B,  with  the  paddle-wheel,  would  be  constantly  moved  round  in  the  same 
direction  and  be  an  equable  force.  (See  No.  6.) 

*  See  plan,  in  Woolhouse  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  15. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          29 

purpose  designed.  It  is  evident  Hulls  never  built  a 
boat  or  tried  to  put  his  theory  into  practice ;  had  such 
been  the  case,  English  writers,  in  their  zeal  to  prove  him 
the  inventor  of  the  steamboat,  would  not  have  failed 
to  mention  it.  His  plan  was  no  doubt  found  impracti 
cable  and  abandoned ;  yet  it  showed  that  not  only  the 
idea  of  applying  steam  to  boats  was  entertained  by 
Hulls,  but  that  he  drew  a  plan  on  paper,  of  such 
machinery  as  he  had  invented  for  that  purpose.  Beli- 
dor,  an  eminent  writer  and  engineer,  who  gave  an 
account  of  the  steam-engine  in  1739,  two  years  after 
Hulls  published  his  pamphlet,  makes  no  mention  of 
him.1 

In  1753,  sixteen  years  after  Hulls  published  his 
pamphlet,  Daniel  Bornouilli,  who  sought  to  propel 
boats  by  ejecting  water  from  the  stern,  gained  a  prize 
from  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  for  demonstrat 
ing  to  the  Academy  the  point  that  steam-power,  as 
then  understood,  could  not  be  successfully  applied  to 
navigation,  without  a  continuous  rotary  motion,2  which 
it  did  not  possess.  This  looks  as  though  Hulls'  rotary 
mechanism  could  not  have  been  regarded  of  much  if 
any  importance.  This,  however,  was  not  the  only 
difficulty,  the  enormous  amount  of  fuel  required  to 
run  the  Newcomen  engine  for  any  length  of  time,  was 
beyond  the  capacity  of  a  boat  to  hold  or  carry.  Yet 
others,  not  seeing  these  fatal  difficulties  in  their  way, 
still  persisted  in  trying  their  experiments  with  it. 

Genevois,  in  1759,  tried  a  boat  with  the  Newcomen 
engine  and  paddles,  constructed  after  the  fashion  of  a 

1  Arch.  Hydr.,  torn  ii.  pp.  300,  331. 

2  Remwick  On  the  Steam-  engine,  p.  279. 


30        'NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

duck's  foot,  opening  in  its  backward  and  closing  in  its 
forward  motion  through  the  water.1  But  he  soon  found 
that  art  would  not  construct  from  inert  lifeless  matter, 
a  paddle  that  would  work  with  the  elasticity  of  the 
living  sinews,  joints,  and  filaments  constructed  by 
nature.  The  Comte*de  Auxiron  in  1774,  and  the  Earl 
of  Stanhope  afterwards,  made  similar  trials,  but  with  no 
better  success.2  Perrier  in  1775,  it  is  said,  tried  pad 
dle-wheels,  but  he  could  not  make  engine  and  wheels 
go  together,  and  ascribed  his  failure  of  success  to  the 
wheels,  which  he  flung  aside,  and  tried  other  modes 
of  propulsion,  but  discovered  no  plan  of  success.3 
The  Marquis  de  Jouffroy,  in  1782,  constructed  a  boat 
at  Lyons,  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  long,  fifteen  feet 
beam,  and  drawing  three  and  a  half  feet  of  water ; 
and  launched  it  upon  the  Soane,  where  he  experimented 
with  it  for  more  than  a  year.4  He  used  paddles,  which 
together  with  the  defects  in  the  prime  mover,  could 
not  be  made  to  work  to  his  satisfaction ;  and  the  boat, 
after  a  long  and  thorough  trial,  was  given  up.  But 
Jouffroy  was  entitled  to  great  credit  for  his  ener 
getic  experiments,  and  failed  because  the  right  sort  of 
engine  and  propelling  machinery  were  wanting. 

The  next  experiment  in  Europe,  worthy  of  notice, 
was  tried  by  Patrick  Miller  of  Dalswinton  in  Scot 
land,  in  1787.5  He  put  three  small  boats  or  skiffs 
together,  side  by  side,  making  a  triple  boat,  and  placed 
paddle-wheels  between  them,  to  be  turned  by  cranks, 
worked  by  men.  This  craft  was  built  for  a  little  pleas- 

1  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  279.  2  Ibid.  3  Hid. 

4  Dictionnaire  de  Physique,  Art.  "  Chaloupe  a  Vapeur." 

5  Woodcroft's  History  of  Early  Steam  Navigation. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          31 

ure  boat  upon  Loch  Dalswinton,  a  small  lake  upon  his 
estate.  It  was  moved  about  the  lake  with  safety,  but 
its  slow  movements  were  somewhat  monotonous.  One 
James  Taylor  suggested  to  Miller  the  idea  of  putting 
a  steam-engine  into  the  boat,  and  in  1788,  he  employed 
William  Symington  to  construct  a  small  engine  for 
that  purpose,  which  he  put  into  the  boat  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year.  He  succeeded  in  moving  the  craft  about 
the  lake  much  faster  than  by  hand,  and  more  to  his 
amusement  and  satisfaction.  This  induced  him  to  em 
ploy  Symington  to  put  an  engine  into  a  larger  boat, 
on  the  Forth  and  Clyde  Canal.  This  craft  was  con 
structed  by  putting  two  boats  side  by  side,  and  having 
but  one  wheel  placed  between  them,  thus  forming 
a  double  boat  instead  of  triple.1  The  next  year, 
December  26,  1789  (the  year  after  Eead  commenced 
his  improvements,  it  will  be  noticed),  Miller  tried  his 
boat  upon  the  canal.  They  applied  their  steam  force 
to  it,  and  it  is  related,  succeeded  in  driving  it  at  the 
rate  of  seven  miles  per  hour,  a  speed  not  before 
attained.2  This,  however,  must  have  been  the  result 
of  a  short  and  violent  effort,  beyond  the  capacity  of 
the  boat  and  machinery,  for  we  learn  that  both  kept 
breaking  and  coming  to  pieces,  until  the  boat  was  in 
danger  of  sinking,  and  they  run  her  ashore.  Miller 
quarreled  with  his  engineer  respecting  it,  took  out  the 
machinery,  and  gave  up  any  further  experiments  in 
steam  navigation.  It  does  not  appear  how  his  engine 
was  constructed;  but  it  is  evident,  if  Symington  had 
invented  such  new  machinery  as  to  adapt  the  steam- 

1  Woodcroft's  History  of  Early  Steam  Navigation.    Woolhouse,  p.  31. 

2  Woodcroft. 


32          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

engine  to  boats,  he  would  have  made  it  a  prominent 
point  in  the  account  of  his  experiment.  Let  his  engine 
be  what  it  may,  the  very  form  of  his  boats,  and  mode  of 
applying  his  propelling  force,  were  fatal  to  a  successful 
navigation.  Instead  of  moving  one  boat  with  two 
wheels,  he  substantially  undertook  to  move  two  boats 
with  one  wheel ;  and  when  we  consider  the  obstruction 
his  double  boat  would  meet  with,  from  the  dead  water 
to  be  dragged  along  between  the  hulks,  it  is  evident  it 
could  not  possess  much  power  or  speed;  nor  did  it 
possess  that  combination  of  machinery  in  any  respect 
necessary  to  success.  To  show  the  correctness  of  this 
position,  Symington  afterwards,1  with  ten  or  twelve 
years'  experience  added  to  his  profession,  was  employed 
by  Lord  Dundas  (in  1801)  to  build  a  steam  towboat 
on  the  same  Forth  and  Clyde  Canal,  which  he  called  the 
Charlotte  Dundas;  and  this  boat  did  not  exceed  on  the 
average  three  and  a  half  miles  per  hour  ;  and  the  ex 
periment  was  given  up. 

Indeed  steam  navigation  was  not  introduced  into 
Europe  for  several  years  after  it  had  been  invented 
and  put  in  successful  operation  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  boat  built  outside  of  this  country,  which  can 
properly  claim  the  name  and  character  of  a  steamboat, 
was  built  in  Great  Britain  by  one  of  Fulton's  work 
men,  Henry  Bell,  at  his  own  cost  and  risk,  and  put  in 
operation  on  the  Clyde  at  Glasgow,  in  181 2.2  This 
boat  called  the  Comet,  was  only  forty  feet  long,  and 
carried  twenty-five  tons,  with  a  four-horse  engine,  and 
run  as  a  passenger  boat  between  Glasgow  and  Green- 

1  Life  of  Watt,  p.  332.    Woodcroft  On  Steam  Navigation,  p.  55.    1848. 

2  Woolhouse,  vol.  i.  p.  470. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          33 

ock.  British  writers  attempt  to  lionize  Bell,  and  make 
him  the  true  inventor  of  the  steamboat.  Woolhouse 
says : l  — 

"  Bell  sent  a  description  of  the  method  of  applying  steam 
in  propelling  vessels  against  wind  and  tide,  to  all  the  em. 
perors  and  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  and  also  to  America^ 
which  last  government  put  it  in  practice  in  the  year  1806." 

The  above  paragraph  is  recorded  in  an  English  work 
designed  as  a  standard  authority,  and  as  the  author 
himself  styles  it,  "  a  splendid  national  work."  But  most 
surely  the  United  States  government  was  never  in 
debted  to  Bell  for  its  steamboats  ;  it  had  not  then  been 
much  of  a  steamboat-builder  ;  and  we  must  be  allowed 
to  question  its  "  practice  "  of  building  them  after  Bell's 
plans,  or  the  plans  of  any  one  else,  as  early  as  1806, 
before  they  came  into  use  at  all.  The  learned  author, 
however,  has  the  candor  to  remark,  that — 

"  British  genius  and  industry  have  not  been  extinguished 
by  transplanting  to  another  climate.  The  projects  of  the 
Americans  are  seldom  founded  on  the  sober  reasoning  of 
science.  Time  will,  however,  check  this  evil,  and  he  may 
expect  them  to  hold  that  rank  in  the  new  world,  which 
Britain  has  held  with  so  much  honor  for  centuries  in  the 
older  portion." 

And  he  adds,  — 

"  Considering  the  importance  to  America  of  navigating 
her  immense  rivers,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  application 
of  the  power  of  steam  to  propelling  vessels,  should  by  per 
severing  efforts  have  been  first  carried  into  successful  prac 
tice  in  that  continent." 

1  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  277. 


34          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Woolhouse,  however,  does  not  proceed  to  attribute 
to  any  special  cause  our  invention  of  the  cotton  gin, 
nail  machine,  card  machine,  block  machine,  and  ma 
chine  for  turning  irregular  forms,  and  other  inventions 
and  discoveries  too  numerous  to  mention,  —  saying 
nothing  of  the  great  discoveries  in  electricity  by  Frank 
lin,  and  of  the  magnetic  telegraph  by  Morse,  inventions 
that  place  this  above  all  other  countries  for  its  inven 
tive  genius  and  improvement  in  the  mechanic  arts. 

As  we  descend  from  Woolhouse's  '*  National  Work," 
to  the  current  literature  of  England,  we  find  repeated 
instances  of  British  writers,  in  attempting  to  attach  to 
their  countrymen  the  credit  of  this  invention. 

An  article  in  the  "  London  Journal  of  the  Society 
of  Arts  "  will  suffice  as  a  sample.  It  was  published 
in  that  leading  English  journal  of  art  as  late  as  1853. 
It  says,  "  The  steamboat  was  Watt's  invention,  and 
about  a  score  of  years  ago  (which  would  be  1833  *) 
it  was  first  put  in  practice  in  Scotland,  whence  it 
spread  over  the  world."  Thus,  with  very  little  cer 
emony,  the  invention  of  the  steamboat,  and  the  vast 
spread  of  steam  navigation  throughout  the  world,  is, 
by  a  single  paragraph  in  the  "  London  Journal," 
added  to  the  laurels  of  Great  Britain.  The  paragraph 
lacks  nothing  but  truth  to  entitle  it  to  credit  and  make 
it  complete  upon  the  face  of  it ;  but  the  assumption  is 
so  notoriously  extravagant  as  to  be  innocent  of  harm. 

It  is  also  claimed  in  England,  that  Robert  Fulton,  in 

i  The  writer  of  the  above  article  was  unfortunate  in  placing  his  invention 
and  first  experiment  with  a  steamboat,  twenty-six  years  after  Fulton  put 
his  boat  upon  the  Hudson,  and  long  after  boats  were  introduced  the  world 
over ! 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          35 


1804,  inspected  Symington's  boat,  Charlotte 
and  got  his  ideas  of  river  navigation,  with  plans  and 
drawings,  from  him.1  Symington's  and  Fulton's  boats 
and  machinery  scarcely  resembled  each  other  ;  and 
Fulton  had  ordered  his  machinery  of  Boulton  &  Watt, 
and  gave  them  draughts,  long  before  he  ever  saw 
Symington's  boat.2 

The  "  London  Quarterly  Review  "  (vol.  xix.  p.  353), 
to  make  it  appear  that  Great  Britain  should  have  the 
credit  of  inventing  the  steamboat,  says,  "  Miller,  of 
Dalswinton,  in  1787,  published  a  book  on  applying 
paddle-wheels  with  cranks  to  move  boats  on  canals, 
and  suggested  using  a  steam-engine  to  turn  the  cranks  ; 
and  that  Miller  transmitted  a  copy  of  this  book  to  Gen 
eral  Washington." 

Miller's  triple-boat,  built  of  three  skiffs  placed  side 
by  side,  with  wheels  between  them,  and  cranks  turned 
by  the  hands  of  his  servants,  was  used  to  amuse  his 
children  in  a  safe  way,  on  a  small  lake  or  pond.3  It 
appears  that  he  made  a  drawing  of  this  boat  and  pub 
lished  a  description  of  it,4  with  his  men  tugging  away 
at  the  cranks.  His  description  of  this  thing,  is  the 
book  referred  to  in  the  "  London  Quarterly,"  as  proof 
that  a  steamboat  had  been  built  at  that  date  in  Great 
Britain.  Neither  steam  nor  the  steam-engine  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  this  craft  when  Miller  published  his 
book  or  description  of  it.  It  does  not  appear  from  the 
"  Review  "  that  he  published  any  book  after  his  dis 
astrous  experiments  with  steam.  That  he  sent  a  copy 

1  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  285. 

2  On  this  subject  see  post. 

3  Ante.  4  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  332. 


36          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

of  his  book  to  Washington,  might  have  been  true  :  as 
the  war  between  the  two  countries  had  closed,  and  the 
animosity  which  the  British  people  and  government 
had  entertained  against  us  had  partially  ceased.  If  Mil 
ler  ever  sent  a  copy  of  his  book  to  Washington,  con 
taining  a  scientific  description  and  drawing  of  his  craft ! 
it  would  seem  that  the  latter  would  have  suggested  the 
subject  to  Rumsey  or  Fitch,  both  of  whom  at  that 
time  were  soliciting  his  aid  and  advice  in  their  steam 
boat  projects. 

It  is  also  said  that  Bell  furnished  Fulton  with  plans 
and  drawings  in  1806  ; 1  this  is  disproved  also  by  the 
fact,  that  Fulton  had  closed  his  experiments  at  Paris  in 
1803,  and  ordered  his  engine  in  1804,  with  drawings 
and  directions  as  to  the  manner  of  constructing  it.2 
In  fact,  Symington's  boat  differed  from  Fulton's  so 
essentially  as  to  bear  no  comparison  ;  while  Bell,  in 
stead  of  furnishing  a  pattern  to  Fulton,  built  his  own 
boat  in  1812,  after  Fulton's. 

The  zeal  of  English  writers  to  attach  the  honor  of 
this  invention  to  their  own  country,  is  very  natural ; 
but  they  fail  to  produce  any  decisive  impression  on 
the  intelligent  public.  That  many  experiments  were 
made  in  England  as  well  as  in  France,  tending  to 
accomplish  that  end,  is  very  certain ;  but  that  it  was 
finally  accomplished  by  American  genius,  and  in  Amer 
ican  waters,  is  allowed  by  universal  consent. 

l  Renwick,  p.  288.  ^  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  334. 


CHAPTER  V. 

WE  will  now  change  the  scene  of  these  experi 
ments  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  our 
own  shores,  and  trace  the  progress  of  this  invention  in 
the  United  States. 

James  Rumsey,  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  John  Fitch 
of  Windsor,  Connecticut,  were  the  first  in  America 
who  made  the  attempt  to  propel  boats  by  steam.  They 
were  sharp  competitors  in  the  project  of  applying  steam 
to  river  navigation  ;  and  were  engaged  simultaneously 
in  their  experiments.  Their  machinery,  however, 
with  which  they  proposed  to  propel  their  boats,  was 
very  different  both  in  plan  and  construction  from  each 
other.  The  first  effort  made  by  Rumsey,  he  did  not 
apply  steam  as  the  motive  power.  His  boat  was  con 
structed  with  two  keels,  having  a  wheel  between  them, 
which  he  designed  to  move  by  the  force  of  the  current 
alone,  and  to  which  he  attached  setting  poles  by  means 
of  a  shaft,  and  cranks  to  work  them ;  hence  he  calculated 
his  boat  would  go  best  against  a  pretty  swift  current ; 
and  as  may  be  seen  where  there  was  no  current  it 
would  not  move  at  all.1  This  curious  theory,  how 
ever,  was  soon  abandoned,  after  his  attempt  to  reduce 
it  to  practice ;  but  in  justice  to  Rumsey  it  is  proper 
to  say  that  he  intended  the  boat  to  run  against  the 
currents  of  rapid  rivers  only.2  This  experiment  was 
in  1784.  He  afterwards  constructed  a  boat  to  be 

1  Documentary  History  of  Neio  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  1014.  2  Ibid. 


38          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

propelled  by  steam ;  and  in  December  1787,  tried 
it  upon  the  Potomac,  at  Bath,  Berkeley  County,  Vir 
ginia.1  He  had  but  very  indifferent  success,  moved 
his  boat  but  a  short  distance,  and  the  season  closing 
the  river,  his  boat  was  laid  up,  and  he  made  no  further 
experiment  with  it.  The  next  year  he  went  to  Eng 
land  to  prosecute  his  steam  projects  there ;  and  sud 
denly  died  with  apoplexy,  as  he  was  about  to  address 
a  crowded  audience  at  Liverpool  on  the  subject.2 

Rumsey's  steamboat  was  constructed  essentially  after 
the  plan  of  Bournelli,  being  a  mode  of  propelling  a 
vessel  by  forcing  water  out  at  the  stern  by  the  power 
of  steam,  through  a  trunk  which  extended  aft  from 
near  the  bow.3  Rumsey  probably  obtained  the  idea 
from  Dr.  Franklin,  who  was  his  friend  and  p'atron. 
Franklin,  during  his  residence  in  France,  had  taken 
the  opportunity  to  look  into  scientific  matters  of  this 
sort  as  well  as  others,  and  became  acquainted  with 
Bournelli's  plan.4  He  returned  from  France  in 
August  1785,  and  in  December  following  laid  a  plan 
of  a  steamboat  before  the  Philosophical  Society  at 
Philadelphia,  substantially  after  that  plan,  and  similar 
to  that  which  Rumsey  afterwards  constructed.  The 
water  was  drawn  into  the  forward  end  of  the  trunk 
from  under  the  boat  by  means  of  a  pump  or  cylinder, 
with  the  piston  worked  by  the  engine  —  the  pump  con 
taining  a  valve  that  opened  and  closed  to  draw  in  the 
water  and  force  it  into  the  trunk  and  out  at  the  stern.6 

John  Fitch,  as  early  as  1785,  commenced  his  steam- 

1  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  1020. 

2  Hows'  History  of  Virginia.    Life,  of  Fitch,  p.  374. 

8  See  Fig.  No.  7.  4  Sparks'  Life  of  Franklin,  vol.  vi.  p.  479. 

6  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  1018.     - 


No.  7 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          39 

boat  projects,1  being  the  next  year  after  Rumsey 
made  the  attempt  to  navigate  the  Potomac  against  its 
current,  with  his  water-propelling  boat.  He  thus  be 
came  a  rival  of  Rumsey  in  the  purpose  of  river  navi 
gation  —  the  object  they  both  then  had  in  view.  They 
entered  into  a  bitter  controversy  on  the  question  of 
priority,  each  claiming  to  be  the  first  to  propose  steam 
power  to  the  propulsion  of  boats.2  They  not  only 
claimed  priority  as  it  respected  each  other,  but  as 
to  the  whole  world.  Fitch  says  "  he  never  heard  of 
such  a  thing  as  a  steam-engine  before  he  had  conceived 
the  idea  of  one,"  wThich  was  in  the  spring  of  that 
year  in  which  he  commenced  his  steamboat  projects, 
— 1785.3  And  he  says  moreover,  "  The  propelling 
of  a  boat  with  steam  is  as  new  as  the  rowing  of  a  boat 
with  angels,  and  I  claim  the  first  thought  and  inven 
tion  of  it."  * 

With  these  two  confessions  of  Fitch,  showing  his  en 
tire  ignorance  of  the  mechanism  of  the  steam-engine, 
or  of  any  attempt  by  others  to  apply  it  to  boats,  when 
he  began,  it  is  certainly  remarkable  that  he  succeeded 
as  well  as  he  did  in  his  experiments.  He  says  more 
over,  in  a  petition  to  Congress,  as  late  as  July,  1790, 
in  referring  to  his  former  experiments,  —  "  That  his  loss 
of  time  and  money  was  occasioned  by  his  total  ignor 
ance  of  the  improved  state  of  the  steam-engine,  for  not 
a  person  could  be  found  who  was  acquainted  with  the 
minutise  of  Boulton  &  Watt's  new  engines ;  and  whether 
your  petitioner's  engine  is  similar  or  not  to  those  in 
England,  he  is  at  this  moment  totally  ignorant." 5 

1  Westcott's  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  119. 

2  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  p.  1012,  and  post. 

3  Westcott's  Life  of  'Fitch,  p.  119. 

4  Ibid.  p.  172.  5  Ibid.  p.  299. 


40          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

From  the  above  statements  of  Fitch,  it  is  evident, 
he  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  great  improvements 
of  Watt  upon  the  steam-engine,  or  of  any  just  method 
of  adapting  it  to  steam  navigation. 

Fitch  first  proposed  to  build  his  boat  after  the  plan 
of  Bournelli,  as  presented  by  Franklin  to  the  Philo 
sophical  Society ;  and  ordered  the  hull  to  be  built 
on  that  plan,1  —  of  course  with  a  double  kelson.  But 
Henry  Voight,  whom  he  had  employed  to  assist  him  in 
building  his  engine,  persuaded  him  to  give  up  that  plan 
for  some  other  mode  of  propulsion  ;  but  proposed  as 
the  first  object  to  build  their  engine. 

Fitch  &  Voight  accordingly  went  to  work  and  con 
structed  a  small  engine  for  a  model,  of  only  one-inch 
cylinder.2  But  it  had  not  sufficient  force  to  overcome 
the  friction,  and  give  it  self  motion.  They  then  made 
one  with  a  three-inch  cylinder,  and  tried  a  small  skiff 
by  hand  with  paddles,  and  one  or  two  other  modes, 
none  of  which  gave  them  satisfaction.  This  experiment 
was  in  July,  1786.3  Soon  after  the  above  trial  he  ap 
plied  cranks  to  his  oars  or  paddles,  and  found  that  they 
worked  better.  They  then  put  the  engine  into  the  skiff, 
and  the  experiment  was  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  induce 
a  part  of  the  company  who  were  aiding  Fitch,  to  believe 
that  a  boat  of  larger  size  might  be  safely  built. 

There  is  no  very  definite  means  of  knowing  the  na 
ture  of  the  engine  they  used.  It  however  appears  that 
it  had  a  double-acting  cylinder  and  cranks  ;  that  "  each 
stroke  of  the  piston  turned  the  axle-tree  about  two 
thirds  round,  and  each  revolution  of  the  axle-tree  moved 
twelve  oars,  six  on  a  side,  with  three  up  and  three 

i  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  157.         2  Ibid.  p.  158.        3  Ibid.  p.  159. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          41 

down,  rising  and  falling  about  five  and  a  half  feet." 
The  oars  worked  perpendicularly  and  made  a  stroke 
downward  into  the  water  like  the  paddles  of  a  canoe."  2 
It  does  not  appear  that  they  used  the  fly-wheel  to 
carry  the  motion  beyond  the  dead  points  of  the  crank, 
or  that  the  several  parts  of  the  engine  were  properly 
proportioned  to  each  other — which,  as  they  worked 
without  any  formula,  could  not  by  anything  other  than 
accident,  have  been  the  case.  The  caps  of  the  cylin 
ders  were  made  of  wood,  and  neither  these  nor  the 
piston  could  be  made  air-tight.  They  used  a  conden 
ser  invented  by  Voight,  which  he  called  the  "  pipe  con 
denser."  Several  other  forms  of  condensers  were  tried 
and  flung  aside ;  the  steam  valves  worked  badly  ; 3 
the  boiler  was  of  very  large  size  compared  with  the 
rest  of  the  engine ;  said  to  hold  five  hundred  gallons 
of  water,  while  the  engine  and  boiler  occupied 
about  two  thirds  the  length  and  size  of  the  boat. 
It  was  calculated  the  boiler  and  other  machinery 
would  weigh  from  five  to  seven  tons,  beside  fuel ; 
while  the  boat  was  but  forty-five  feet  long  and  twelve 
feet  beam.4  Yet  they  succeeded  in  moving  this  craft 
when  under  full  way,  from  three  to  four  miles  per 
hour,  but  frequent  stoppages  were  made  to  accumu 
late  fresh  supplies  of  steam  and  repair  the  engine  : 
"  for  as  one  defect  was  remedied  another  became  ap 
parent."5  All  this  makes  it  quite  evident  that  they 
had  not  hit  very  near  Watt,  in  the  construction  of  their 


i  See  Fig.  No.  8.  2  Life  Of  Fitch,  p.  177. 

s  Westcott's  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  185,  a.n&post. 

4  See  affidavits  of  William  Askew  and  Henry  Bedinger,  Documentary 
History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  pp.  1024,  1025.        6  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  186. 


42          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

engine  or  made  any  improvement  in  the  massive 
boiler,  to  fit  it  for  steam  navigation.  This  experiment 
was  in  July  and  August  1787. 

No  further  experiments  were  made  with  the  above 
described  boat,  but  it  was  abandoned  and  a  new  boat 
built  sixty  feet  long  and  eight  feet  beam,  in  1788; 
and  the  machinery  of  the  old  boat  taken  out  and  put 
into  this ;  at  the  same  time  the  oars  of  the  old  boat 
were  dispensed  with  and  substituted  by  three  or  four 
paddles,  much  broader  than  the  oars,  and  used  at  the 
stern,  instead  of  the  sides  of  the  boat.1  They  went 
from  Philadelphia  to  Burlington,  twenty  miles,  and 
the  boiler  sprung  a  leak  just  as  they  arrived  at  the 
latter  place.  This  was  the  first  trip  of  that  distance 
ever  made  by  a  steamboat  known  in  history,  which  was 
the  last  of  July  or  1st  of  August  1788.2  They  repaired 
up  the  boat  and  made  three  or  four  trips  that  fall  to 
Burlington,  on  an  average  speed  of  about  four  miles 
per  hour.  This  speed  did  not  meet  the  expectations 
of  the  company,  and  most  of  them,  with  Voight,  gave 
up  the  project.3 

Fitch  however  got  up  another  company  in  the  spring 
of  1789,  and  began  another  boat  with  an  eighteen-inch 
cylinder.  A  condenser  invented  by  Dr.  Thornton 
was  put  into  it ;  they  then  tried  Voight's  pipe  con 
denser  with  no  better  success.  These  changes  occu 
pied  the  summer,  but  in  December  they  tried  the  new 
boat,  after  enlarging  the  air-pump.  Yet  this  boat  suc 
ceeded  no  better  than  the  old  one,  and  it  was  laid  up  for 
the  winter.4  In  the  spring  following,  1790,  they  tried 

1  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  248,  andpos*.  2  Ibid.  p.  250. 

3  Ibid.  p.  252.  4  Ibid,  p.  270,  and^osi. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE   STEAM-ENGINE.         43 

another  sort  of  condenser,  and  wholly  failed  to  work 
the  boat.  This  was  the  seventh  condenser  they  had 
experimented  with,  all  of  different  construction  and  of 
their  own  getting  up  —  clearly  showing  how  they 
worked  in  the  dark3  without  any  specific  knowledge  of 
the  steam-engine  as  improved  by  Watt.  Another  con 
denser  of  Fitch's  contrivance,  however,  was  tried ;  and 
on  the  16th  of  April,  as  Fitch  expressed  himself,  "  They 
reigned  Lord  High  Admirals  of  the  Delaware."1  The 
boat  run  on  the  average  about  six  miles  per  hour ;  and 
now  and  then  was  brought  up  to  the  speed  of  seven  or 
eight  miles.  It  was  run  as  a  passenger  boat  between 
Philadelphia  and  Trenton  three  months  or  so  ; 2  but 
from  the  crude  and  imperfect  character  of  the  machin 
ery,  the  ill  adaptation  of  one  part  to  the  other,  the 
clumsy  working  of  the  paddles  behind,  the  great  ex 
pense  of  fuel,  and  the  little  space  on  the  boat  except 
what  the  engine,  boiler,  and  fuel  occupied,  the  at 
tention  required  to  keep  it  in  repair,  as  the  machinery 
kept  continually  getting  out  of  order,  and  the  expenses 
of  running  the  boat  constantly  accumulating  beyond 
its  earnings,  all  together,  made  it  a  losing  business, 
and  it  was  abandoned.3 

The  difficulties  Fitch  labored  under,  not  only  from 
his  own  lack  of  information,  as  to  the  true  philosoph 
ical  data  and  structure  of  the  steam-engine,  and  the 
perplexities  he  constantly  met,  while  groping  in  the 
dark  to  construct  his  machinery,  were  made  apparent 
in  this  experiment.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  fact  that  Fitch, 
with  machinery  that  never  could  be  profitably  or  success 
fully  applied  to  navigation,  even  upon  the  rivers,  fored 

i  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  281.          2  ibid.  284,  and  post.         3  ibid.  p.  285. 


44          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

his  boat  at  a  greater  speed  than  did  Fulton  in  his 
first  experiment  upon  the  Hudson  ;  but  Fulton  had 
got  upon  the  right  track,  where  his  path  was  felicitous 
and  smooth  ;  while  Fitch  rushed  headlong  against  fatal 
and  unforeseen  obstacles. 

Fitch  made  some  feeble  attempts  to  renew  his  ex 
periments,  but  without  success.  He  quarreled  with 
Voight  and  his  friends,  who  had  now  lost  their  con 
fidence  in  him,  and  he  could  raise  no  funds  but  now 
and  then  a  few  dollars  out  of  pity  to  relieve  him  of  his 
extreme  necessities.  Thus  far  his  career  had  been  of  a 
remarkable  character,  just  such  as  would  be  likely  to 
follow  the  efforts  of  such  a  man.  He  combined  with  a 
rare  and  remarkable  genius,  qualities  that  were  fatal 
to  his  success.  His  genius  had  to  contend  with  his 
ignorance,  excitable  temper,  and  intemperate  habits,  — 
an  array  of  difficulties  that  it  could  not  overcome. 
He  was  ever  groping  in  the  dark,  urged  on  by  his 
impulses,  and  thus  subjected  himself  to  a  life  of  suc 
cessive  calamities.  He  had  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
steam-engine,  and  of  its  results  when  applied  to  boats, 
as  he  says  ;  and  set  himself  to  work  to  build  one  and 
make  the  application.  His  plans  and  drawings,  taken 
from  his  own  crude  mind  for  the  most  part,  were 
necessarily  vague  and  imperfect ;  and  the  machinery 
forged  from  them  would  work  badly  or  not  at  all,  per 
plex  him,  and  discourage  his  employers. 

Had  Fitch  taken  the  same  pains  that  George  Ste- 
phenson  did  —  who  at  the  age  of  eighteen  could  neither 
read  nor  write — to  acquire  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his 
profession,  and  direct  his  genius  by  scientific  principles, 
his  career  no  doubt  would  have  been  equally  successful 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          45 

and  glorious.  Success  would  have  raised  him  above 
himself,  kept  down  his  petulance  and  ill- temper, 
and  overcome  the  evils  of  dissipation ;  it  would  have 
made  a  man  of  him,  as  he  felt  himself  to  be,  when 
he  "  reigned  Lord  High  Admiral  of  the  Delaware." 
He  had  in  the  very  character  of  the  men  who  gave 
him  their  patronage,  a  basis  for  all  the  material  aid 
he  required :  they  were  anxious  to  furnish  the  means, 
but  they  wanted  the  assurance  that  they  would  not 
be  spent  in  vain.  Fitch  was  not  the  man  to  give 
them  this  assurance.  As  it  was,  however,  the  honest- 
hearted  fellow  labored  not  in  vain  ;  he  accomplished 
more  in  driving  his  boat,  crude  as  it  was,  than  had 
ever  been  done  before ;  but  he  fell  far  short  of  in 
troducing  to  the  world  a  practicable  mode  of  naviga 
tion  by  steam. 

This  man  of  genius  and  misfortune,  after  spending 
some  years  in  poverty  and  distress,  took  up  his  resi 
dence  at  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  where  by  his  own 
hand  he  flung  off  this  mortal  coil,  —  closing  a  life  of 
perseverance,  intermixed  with  bitter  disappointment 
and  trouble.  Before  his  death  he  made  the  request, 
"  that  he  should  be  buried  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio, 
that  he  might  repose  where  the  song  of  the  boatman 
would  enliven  the  stillness  of  his  resting-place,  and 
the  music  of  the  steam-engine  soothe  his  spirit."  1 
Truly  prophetic  words  ! 

1  Hows'  History  of  Virginia. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IT  has  been  noticed  that  Read  as  early  as  1788, 
while  a  resident  of  Salem,  devoted  himself  to  the 
purpose  of  applying  steam-power  to  navigation  and 
land  transport.  Having  learned  the  unsuccessful  at 
tempts  made  by  Rumsey  upon  the  Potomac,  and  Fitch 
upon  the  Delaware  in  1787,  and  believing  that  their 
failure  was  owing  to  their  ill-constructed  machinery, 
and  modes  of  propulsion,  he  sought  to  overcome  the 
difficulty,  by  the  invention  and  combination  of  machin 
ery  of  a  different  and  more  perfect  kind.  He  believed 
this  could  be  done  by  so  modifying  Watt's  improved 
engine  as  to  fit  it  for  a  portable  as  well  as  stationary 
power.  It  had  thus  far  been  used  in  mills  or  fixed 
localities,  where  it  was  expected  to  remain,  and  it  had 
been  invented  for  no  other  purpose.  Thus  its  heft 
and  bulk  hardly  came  into  account  in  its  construction. 
Indeed,  power  and  durability  were  the  great  objects, 
without  regard  to  size  or  weight  in  the  stationary 
engines  ;  but  not  so  in  an  engine  to  be  used  in  a 
boat  or  land  carriage.  In  both  of  these  cases  they 
must  not  only  be  of  small  size,  but  light,  and  so  light 
as  to  be  carried  in  the  craft  or  carriage  they  propel, 
not  only  with  convenience  and  ease,  but  with  economy 
and  profit.  In  short,  the  engine  must  be  of  small 
size,  comparatively  light,  without  any  loss  of  power, 
and  work  with  freedom  and  safety.  He  believed, 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          47 

moreover,  that  the  modes  of  propulsion  used  by  Rum- 
sey  and  Fitch  —  setting-poles,  oars,  paddles,  or  the 
ejection  of  water  from  the  stern  of  the  boat —  were 
not  only  awkward  in  their  operation  but  unreliable. 

His  first  and  great  purpose  was  to  invent  a  new 
boiler,  of  such  a  character  as  to  dispense  with  the 
massive,  old-fashioned  boilers,  and  thus  reduce  the 
engine  several  tons'  weight.  He  succeeded  in  the 
invention  of  a  boiler,  of  which  he  made  draughts  and 
constructed  a  model,  differing  entirely  from  any  before 
known  or  in  use,  which,  from  its  characteristic,  prin 
ciples,  he  denominated  the  "  Portable  Furnace  Boiler." 
To  use  his  own  words,  "  it  occupied  but  little  space, 
was  light  and  strong,  and  so  constructed  as  to  require 
no  other  furnace  than  what  itself  constituted,  and  was 
designed  both  for  boats  and  land  carriages."  This 
boiler  was  constructed  of  seventy-eight  tubes,  placed 
within  it,  and  hence  has  been  generally  denominated 
the  tubular,  or  more  properly,  the  multi-tubular ', 
boiler.1  The  model  of  this  boiler  is  not  to  be  found, 
and  is  supposed  to  have  been  consumed  in  1836,  when 


1  The  tubes  were  placed  in  a  vertical  position,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
following  plan  and  specification  of  it.  In  the  use  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler 
placed  in  this  position,  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (vol.  xx.  p.  651),  revised 
and  republished  the  present  year,  1860,  speaks  as  follows :  — 

"  The  Americans  have  adopted  a  form  of  tubular  boiler,  in  which  the 
tubes  are  disposed  vertically,  the  smoke  and  flame  passing  round  the  out 
side  of  the  tubes,  and  the  water  being  contained  in  the  inside.  These  ver 
tical-tube  boilers  are  very  effective  in  generating  steam,  and  partly  for  this 
reason,  that  the  flame  reaches  further  amongst  their  tubes  than  in  the  case 
of  a  horizontal  boiler,  in  consequence  of  the  greater  space  outside  the  tubes 
in  which  the  flame  may  develop  itself.  The  importance  of  this,  especially 
while  using  the  flaming  bituminous  coal,  is  very  great.  The  absorbent 
surface  is  greater,  and  the  weight  of  water  it  is  necessary  to  carry  is  much 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

the  Patent  Office  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The  follow 
ing  copies  of  the  patent,  specification,  and  drawings  of 
the  boiler  will  sufficiently  describe  its  form  and  nature. 
The  patent  also  includes  an  improvement  of  the  steam 
cylinder  and  method  of  propelling  boats  by  means  of 
the  chain-wheel,  which  I  shall  notice  hereafter.1 

"THE   UNITED   STATES 

"  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come 

"  GREETING  : 

"  Whereas,  Nathan  Read,  of  Salem,  in  the  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  hath  presented  a  petition  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  War,  and  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  alleging  and  sug 
gesting  that  he  hath  discovered  the  following  useful  devices, 
not  before  known  neither  used  ;  that  is  to  say,  an  improve 
ment  of  the  boiler  of  the  steam-engine,  by  constructing  it  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  constitute  of  itself  a  complete  furnace 
that  more  effectually  prevents  the  loss  of  heat  than  any 
other  furnace  that  is  wholly  or  in  part  foreign  to  the  boiler 
itself,  —  by  reducing  its  size,  and  rendering  it  very  portable, 
and  at  the  same  time  increasing  its  force,  by  exposing  within 
a  small  space  a  very  large  surface  directly  to  the  fire,  and  by 
connecting  it  with  a  reservoir  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  replen 
ished  with  water  with  as  much  safety  and  convenience  when 
on  board  a  vessel  in  motion  as  at  rest.  Also  an  improve 
ment  of  the  steam  cylinder,  by  which  it  is  rendered  more 
portable  and  convenient  for  working  in  an  inclined  or  hori 
zontal  position,  and  which  is  in  the  piston,  which  has  two 
stems,  or  rods,  one  coming  out  at  each  end  of  the  cylinder, 
and  alternately  acting  with  equal  force  and  in  contrary  direc 
tions.  And  also  a  practical  mode  of  driving  or  impelling 
1  The  original  papers  in  the  family  of  Judge  Read. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          49 

boats  or  vessels  of  any  kind  in  the  water  or  against  the  cur 
rent,  by  means  of  the  chain-wheel,  or  rowing  machine,  con 
structed  and  operating  upon  the  general  principles  of  the 
chain-pump,  and  moved  by  the  force  of  steam  or  any  other 
power,  in  the  same  manner  the  chain-pump  is  moved ;  and 
praying  that  a  patent  may  be  granted  therefor.  And 
whereas,  the  said  discovery  hath  been  deemed  sufficiently 
useful  and  important :  These  are,  therefore,  in  pursuance 
of  the  Act  entitled  *  An  Act  to  promote  the  Progress  of  the 
Useful  Arts/  to  grant  to  the  said  Nathan  Read,  his  heirs, 
administrators,  or  assigns,  for  the  term  of  fourteen  years,  the 
sole  and  exclusive  right  of  making,  using,  and  vending  to 
others  to  be  used,  the  said  discovery,  so  far  as  he,  the  said 
Nathan  Read  was  the  discoverer,  according  to  the  allega 
tions  and  suggestions  of  the  said  petition. 

"  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  caused  these  Letters  to  be 
made  Patent,  and  the  Seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  here 
unto  affixed. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  this 
twenty-sixth  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one,  and  of  the  Inde 
pendence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  sixteenth. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

[L.  s.]  "  By  the  President, 

"THO8.  JEFFERSON. 

"  CITY  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  Aug.  26, 1791. 

"I  do  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  Letters-patent 
were  delivered  to  me  in  pursuance  of  an  Act  entitled  'An 
Act  to  promote  the  Progress  of  the  Useful  Arts ; '  that  I 
have  examined  the  same,  and  find  them  conformable  to  said 
Act.  "EDM.  RANDOLPH,  Attorney- General" 


50  NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 


"  SPECIFICATION  OF  AN  IMPROVED  STEAM-BOILER. 
"PLATE    I. 

"  Fig.  1  shows  a  perspective  view  of  the  boiler. 

"  Fig.  2  a  vertical  section  of  its  parts. 

"  Fig.  3  a  horizontal  section  through  the  mouth  of  the 
furnace. 

"  Fig.  4  a  horizontal  section  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
furnace. 

"  The  letters  of  reference  are  made  to  answer  to  the  same 
parts  in  all  the  figures  in  this  plate.  A,  the  fuel  door,  cover 
ing  the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  which  is  represented  by  a 
dotted  circle.  J3  B,  the  reservoir  from  which  the  boiler  is 
replenished  with  water  through  the  pipe  D,  which  has  a 
stop-cock  to  close  it  after  the  boiler  is  replenished.  (7,  a 
tube,  with  a  stop-cock,  through  which  the  reservoir  is  filled. 
This  tube  should  be  shut  while  the  tubes  2)  and  Nare  open. 
To  replenish  the  boiler,  shut  the  tube  C  and  open  D  and  N. 
E,  the  funnel  which  conveys  the  smoke  from  the  furnace. 
The  funnel  is  conveyed  through  the  reservoir,  that  the  water 
may  be  hot  before  it  enters  the  boiler.  F,  the  steam-pipe 
that  conveys  off  the  steam  from  the  boiler  as  fast  as  it  is 
generated.  G  G,  Fig.  2,  a  cylindrical  vessel  forming  the 
external  part  of  the  boiler.  H  ff,  a  smaller  cylindrical  ves 
sel  forming  the  inner  part  of  the  boiler  and  external  part  of 
the  furnace.  The  cylindrical  vessels  are  united  at  bottom, 
as' represented  in  Fig.  2  and  in  the  model.  II,  the  top  of 
the  furnace,  perforated  to  receive  the  long  tubes  a  a  a,  etc., 
which  are  open  at  both  ends,  and  also  to  receive  the  short 
tubes  b  b  b,  etc.,  which  are  open  at  top  and  closed  at  bottom. 
K K,  the  bottom  of  the  furnace,  perforated  to  receive  the 
long  tubes  a  a  a,  etc.,  represented  by  the  dotted  circles  in 
Fig.  3.  Z,  that  part  of  the  furnace  that  contains  the  fuel. 


PLATE    1 
Fig-.     J. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  51 

M,  an  opening  on  the  bottom  of  the  boiler,  through  which 
the  air  passes  up  into  the  furnace  and  feeds  the  flame.  The 
grate  is  placed  in  this  opening,  as  represented  in  Fig.  2. 
The  number  of  tubes  and  size  of  the  boiler  may  be  increased 
or  diminished  at  pleasure.  The  boiler  should  be  made  of 
copper  or  iron,  and  all  its  parts  well  brazed  or  riveted  to 
gether,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  work  of  this  kind  is 
commonly  done.  The  boiler,  like  all  others,  should  have  a 
valve  to  give  the  steam  vent  should  it  be  in  danger  of 
bursting. 
"  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come : 

"  I,  NATHAN  READ  of  Salem,  in  the  State  of  Massachu 
setts,  being  the  grantee  of  a  Patent  from  the  United  States, 
for  several  improvements  by  me  discovered,  not  known  or 
used  before  such  discovery,  in  applications  of  steam  to 
useful  purposes ;  do  by  these  presents  deliver  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  State  the  specifications  hereto  annexed,  of  the  dis 
covery  aforesaid,  in  pursuance  of  the  Act  entitled  '  An  Act 
to  promote  the  progress  of  the  Useful  Arts.'  Given  under 
my  hand  and  seal  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State 
this  twenty-third  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one. 

"NATHAN  READ."     [L.  s.] 

The  above  specification  with  corresponding  drawings 
present  a  lucid  and  intelligent  description  of  this  re 
markable  invention  ;  but  no  less  remarkable  in  its  con 
ception  than  important  in  its  results.  The  boiler  alone 
actually  prepared  the  steam-engine  for  a  utility  that  it 
never  before  possessed.  It  rendered  it  portable,  and 
made  it  a  practical  agent  for  moving  boats  and  land 
carriages.  It  is  claimed  by  the  friends  of  Judge  Read, 
that  this  was  the  first  multi-tubular  boiler  invented ; 
and  this  was  what  the  inventor  himself  claimed,  as 


52  NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

will  hereafter  appear,  and  as  shown  not  only  by  the  fore 
going  patent  which  he  received  as  the  original  inventor, 
but  by  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  by  him  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  by  virtue  of  his 
office  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Patents :  — 

"SALEM,  January  8th,  1791. 

"  SIR  :  —  I  forwarded  last  week  to  Mr.  Remsen  l  models 
of  several  machines,  drafts  and  descriptions  of  which  are  in 
closed.  The  model  of  the  boiler  which  I  have  forwarded,  is 
an  improvement  upon  one  of  those  I  exhibited  last  winter. 
The  model  I  refer  to  consists  of  several  annular  vessels 
placed  one  above  another  within  the  furnace,  in  such  a  man 
ner  as  to  expose  a  very  large  surface  directly  to  the  fire. 
For  annular  vessels,  placed  in  a  horizontal  position,  I  have 
substituted  circular  tubes,  placed  in  a  -vertical  position 2 
within  the  furnace,  which  is  formed  by  the  boiler  itself  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  other  was.  In  the  last  boiler,  which  is 
stronger,  more  simple  and  elegant  in  its  construction,  I  have 
paid  less  regard  to  the  evaporating  surface  than  in  either  of 
the  others  —  finding  by  experiment  that  the  principle  of 
evaporation  suggested  by  your  Excellency  is  perfectly  just, 
when  applied  to  close  vessels.  I  am  sensible  that  a  pipe 
was  several  years  since  made  use  of  by  Mr.  Rumsey  for 
generating  steam,  and  also  perceive  from  the  '  Philosophical 
Transactions,'  that  a  tube  in  the  form  of  the  worm  of  a  still 
was  used  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago  for  the  same  purpose  ; 
but  do  not  know  that  any  other  person  but  myself  hath  ever 

1  Mr.  Remsen  was  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners. 

2  In  the  Scientific  American,  vol.  iii.  No.  11,  new  series,  p.  174,  Septem 
ber  8, 1860,  the  editors  say,  "  The  reason  why  we  prefer  a  boiler  with  ver 
tical  tubes,  is  owing  to  the  favorable  results  which  have  been  obtained  with 
such  a  boiler  on  board  the  United  States  frigate  San  Jacinto  in  compar 
ison  with  one  having   the  old-fashioned  tubes.     We  do  not  mean  one  that 
has  the  fire  returned  through  the  tubes;  but  water  tubes,  as  explained  in 
Isherwood's  Engineering  Precedents" 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  53 

constructed  a  tubular  boiler,  formed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
constitute  of  itself  a  complete  furnace.  It  is  about  three 
years  since  I  first  projected  a  boiler  upon  this  plan.  How 
far  my  improvements  merit  an  exclusive  privilege,  the  Hon 
orable  Board  will  judge.  Should  a  Patent  be  granted,  I 
suggest  it  may  be  delivered  to  Benjamin  Goodhue,  Esq., 
who  will  pay  Mr.  Remsen  all  charges  that  have  arisen  in 
consequence  of  my  application. 

"  I  am,  with  the  sincerest  respect, 

"  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

"  NATHAN  READ." 

In  Woolhouse's  edition  of  "  Tredgold,"  vol.  i.  p.  413, 
he  says :  — 

"  The  introduction  of  tubes  into  the  boiler,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  improvements  that  has  been  made  in  the  construc 
tion  of  locomotives,  and  was  the  cause  of  the  superiority  of 
the  Rocket  engine  to  those  that  competed  with  it,  and  to 
all  the  former  engines.  The  Rocket  engine  made  by 
Mr.  R.  Stephenson,  which  was  the  engine  that  gained  the 
prize  for  the  best  locomotive,  at  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  Railway,  in  1829,  was  the  first  engine  made 
with  tubes  in  this  country." 

And  in  a  note  on  the  same  page  he  adds : x  — 
"It  appears  that  the  merit  of  the  first  invention  of  a 
boiler  with  tubes  is  due  to  a  French  engineer,  M.  Seguin, 
who  had  a  patent  for  it  in  1828 ;  although  the  application 
of  the  principle  in  the  Rocket  engine  was  undoubtedly 
an  independent  invention." 

The  above  allusions  to  the  invention  of  the 
"  multi-tubular  boiler  "  2  were  undoubtedly  made  with 
out  a  knowledge  of  Read's  invention  and  patent  of  it. 

1  Woolhouse,  vol.  i.  p.  413. 

2  This  is  the  proper  name  of  the  boiler. 


54          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

But  by  comparison  the  general  principles  of  this  and 
the  boiler  of  the  "  Rocket  "  will  be  found  to  resemble 
each  other  sufficiently  to  be  the  result  of  one  and  the 
same  invention  ;  and  Read's  invention  was  more  than 
forty  years  anterior  to  either  Seguin's  or  Stephenson's 
experiments.  The  only  perceptible  difference  lay  in 
the  fact,  that  this  boiler  of  Read  was  intended  to  carry 
the  water  through  the  tubes  and  the  fire  through  the 
cavities  between  them  ;  while  Stephenson's  boiler  car 
ried  the  fire  through  the  tubes  and  the  water  through 
the  cavities  —  a  change  very  simple  and  easily  made, 
and  no  doubt  an  improvement  for  locomotive  engines ; 
and  it  will  hereafter  appear  that  Read  proposed  the 
same  thing  —  in  short  that  he  invented  the  multi- 
tubular  boiler,  to  be  used  in  either  form,  i.  e.,  one 
with  the  flame  passing  through  the  tubes,  and  the 
other  with  the  water. 

To  show  the  analogy  between  the  boiler  invented  by 
Read  and  that  used  upon  the  "  Rocket "  at  the  cele 
brated  trial  at  Rainhill,  the  following  description  of  the 
boiler  of  the  "  Rocket  "  used  on  that  occasion,  prepared 
by  that  eminent  engineer,  Robert  Stephenson  (son  of 
George  Stephenson),  who  under  the  direction  of  his 
father  built  the  "  Rocket "  and  obtained  the  prize,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  best  evidence  that  can  be  obtained 
on  the  subject.  He  says  : — 

"  At  this  stage  of  the  locomotive  engine,  we  have  in  the 
multi-tubular  boiler  the  only  important  principle  of  construc 
tion  introduced,  in  addition  to  those  which  my  father  had 
brought  to  bear  at  a  very  early  age  (between  the  years  1814 
and  1821),  on  the  Killingworth  Colliery  Railway.1  In  the 

1  Stephenson  built  his  first  locomotive  at  Killingworth  in  1814.    "  The 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  55 

'  Rocket '  engine  the  power  of  generating  steam  was  prodig 
iously  increased  by  the  adoption  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler. 
Its  efficiency  was  further  augmented  by  narrowing  the  orifice 
by  which  the  waste  steam  escaped  into  the  chimney ;  for  by 
this  means  the  velocity  of  the  air  in  the  chimney,  or  in  other 
words  the  draught  of  the  fire,  was  increased  to  an  extent 
that  far  surpassed  the  expectations  even  of  those  who  had 
been  the  authors  of  the  combination.  From  the  date  of 
running  the  '  Rocket '  on  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway,  the  locomotive  engine  has  received  many  improve 
ments  in  detail,  and  especially  in  accuracy  of  workmanship  ; 
but  in  no  essential  particular  does  the  existing  locomotive 
differ  from  that  (the  '  Rocket ')  which  obtained  the  prize  in 
the  celebrated  competition  at  Rainhill. 

"In  this  instance,  as  in  every  other  important  step  in 
science  and  art,  various  claimants  have  arisen  for  the  merit 
of  having  suggested  the  multi-tubular  boiler  as  a  means  of 
obtaining  the  necessary  heating  surface.  Whatever  may  be 
the  value  of  their  respective  claims,  the  public,  useful,  and 
extensive  application  of  the  invention  must  certainly  date 
from  the  experiments  made  at  Rainhill.  M.  Seguin,  for 
whom  engines  had  been  made  by  my  father  some  years  pre 
viously,  states  that  he  patented  a  similar  multi-tubular  boiler 
in  France,  several  years  before.1 

boiler  was  cylindrical,  eight  feet  in  length  and  thirty-four  inches  in  diameter, 
with  an  internal  flue-tube  twenty  inches  wide  passing  through  it.  The 
engine  had  two  vertical  cylinders  of  eight  inches  and  two  feet  stroke  let 
into  the  boiler,  working  the  propelling  gear  with  cross-heads  and  connect 
ing  rods.".  He  used  spur-wheels  and  had  a  chamber  around  the  chimney 
to  heat  the  water  before  it  entered  the  boiler.  His  car-wheels  were  all  of 
a  smooth  surface,  which  he  found  by  experiment  were  sufficient  for  trac 
tion.  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  90,  post. 

1  George  Stephenson  sent  two  engines  to  France  in  1828  for  the  St. 
Etienne  Kail  way  constructed  in  his  usual  form.  Seguin  took  out  Stephen- 
son's  boilers,  and  applied  others  with  the  flame  passing  through  the  tubes, 
which  greatly  increased  the  power  of  the  engines.  This  gave  Stephenson 
the  idea  of  that  form  of  boiler,  which  he  afterwards  applied  to  the  "  Kocket." 


56          NATHAN  READ  AND   TEE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

"A  still  prior  claim  is  made  by  Mr.  Stevens  of  New 
York,  who  was  all  but  the  rival  of  Mr.  Fulton  in  the  intro 
duction  of  steamboats  on  the  American  rivers.  It  is  stated 
as  early  as  1807  he  used  the  multi-tubular  boiler.  These 
claimants  may  all  be  entitled  to  great  and  independent  merit ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  the  perfect  establishment  of  the  success 
of  the  multi-tubular  boiler  is  more  immediately  due  to  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Henry  Booth,  and  to  my  father's  practical 
knowledge  in  carrying  it  out.1 

"  The  boiler  of  the  *  Rocket '  was  cylindrical  with  flat  ends, 
six  feet  in  length  and  three  feet  four  inches  in  diameter. 
The  upper  half  of  the  boiler  was  used  as  a  reservoir  for  the 
steam,  the  lower  half  being  filled  with  water.  Through  the 
lower  part,  twenty-five  copper  tubes  of  three  inches  diameter 
extended,  which  were  opened  to  the  fire-box  at  one  end,  and 
to  the  chimney  at  the  other.  The  fire-box  or  furnace,  two 
feet  wide  and  three  feet  high,  was  attached  immediately  be 
hind  the  boiler,  and  was  also  surrounded  with  water.  The 
cylinders  were  placed  on  each  side  of  the  boiler,  in  an  ob 
lique  position,  one  end  being  nearly  level  with  the  top  of 
the  boiler  at  its  after  end,  and  the  other  pointing  towards  the 
centre  of  the  foremost  or  driving  pair  of  wheels ;  with  which 
the  connection  was  directly  made  from  the  piston-rod  to  a 
pin  on  the  outside  of  the  wheel.  The  engine  and  water 
weighed  four  and  a  quarter  tons,  and  was  supported  on 
four  wheels  not  coupled.  The  tender  was  four  wheeled, 

And  from  this  circumstance  its  invention  was  imputed  to  Seguin.  Life  of 
Stephenson,  p.  262. 

1  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  by  Smiles,  p  263. 

Henry  Booth,  secretary  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  pro 
posed  to  Stephenson  to  apply  the  boiler  of  Seguin  to  the  "  Rocket"  engine, 
and  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  as  they  called  it,  was  thereupon  adopted. 
Booth  was  interested  with  Stephenson  in  the  construction  of  the  "Rocket." 
Aid. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  57 

and  similar  in  shape  to  a  wagon  ;  the  foremost  part  holding 
the  fuel  and  the  hind  part  a  water  cask." 1 

The  priority  and  rights  of  the  respective  claimants 
to  the  invention  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  will  be  more 
particularly  noticed  hereafter ;  for  the  present  the 
reader  is  invited  to  compare  the  above  description  of 
the  boiler  of  the  "  Rocket  "  with  the  specification  and 
drawings  of  Read  of  his  boiler,  which  he  patented  in 
1791  (ante,  p.  48)  ;  from  which  it  will  appear  that  the 
principles  of  their  construction  were  essentially  the 
same.  In  the  mean  time,  to  show  the  advantage  of 
the  multi-tubular  boiler  over  every  other  mode  pro 
posed,  we  will  here  give  a  brief  account  of  the  trial  at 
Rainhill  of  the  several  engines  entered  for  the  prize. 

The  prize  offered  by  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway  Company  was  £500  to  the  most  successful 
locomotive,  the  speed  not  to  average  less  than  ten 
miles  an  hour,  the  engine  to  consume  its  own  smoke, 
not  to  be  of  more  than  six  tons  weight,  and  be  able  to 
draw  twenty  tons  day  by  day ;  the  boiler  to  have  two 
safety-valves,  one  out  of  the  control  of  the  engineer ; 
the  engine  and  boiler  to  be  supported  on  springs,  the 
engines  to  be  at  the  Liverpool  end  of  the  line  ready 
for  trial  on  the  1st  of  October,  1829.  Each  engine 
was  to  run  two  miles  (the  track  being  level),  and 
make  twenty  trips  in  a  day,  and  each  to  run  on 
different  days.  The  engines  entered  were  as  follows  : 
the  "  Novelty,"  constructed  by  Messrs.  Braithwaite 
&  Ericsson;  the  "  Sans-pariel,"  by  Timothy  Hark- 
worths ;  the  "  Rocket,"  by  Messrs.  Stephenson  & 
Booth  ;  the  "  Perseverance,"  by  Mr.  Burstalls.2 

1  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  265.  2  Ibid.  pp.  266, 267. 


58  NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Stephenson  was  the  first  ready  and  the  first  to  open 
the  course  ;  which,  however,  was  not  until  the  6th  of 
October.  On  that  day  the  multitude  assembled  to 
witness  the  strength  and  speed  of  the  young  giants ;  a 
scene  of  intense  curiosity,  and  of  far  greater  interest 
in  the  view  of  all  intelligent  people,  than  any  exhibi 
tion  of  the  mechanic  arts  which  had  appeared  before 
the  world  since  the  successful  opening  of  steam  nav 
igation  upon  the  Hudson.  It  was  not  a  test  of  speed 
resulting  from  the  mechanism  of  nature,  like  the  ten 
sion  and  force  of  the  muscle  and  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
horse,  but  from  a  force  the  work  of  human  hands,  and 
owing  its  creation  and  existence  to  human  contrivance. 
A  stud  of  animals  about  to  exhibit  their  speed  upon 
the  race-course  would  excite  but  little  interest,  but 
for  machines  constructed  by  mortal  artisans,  self-mov 
ing  and  put  in  motion  by  fire  and  water,  to  enter  the 
race,  to  speed  their  way  through  smoke  and  flame, 
upon  limbs  and  joints  of  steel,  was  a  novel  affair.  The 
interest  produced  by  the  occasion,  most  surely,  was  not 
greater  than  the  result  of  the  experiment  foreboded ;  a 
decision  was  to  be  made  whether  the  anticipations  in 
this  behalf,  of  men  of  science  and  genius,  were  to 
triumph,  or  whether  all  their  deductions  and  labors 
were  to  end  in  a  capital  failure,  and  the  actors  irre 
trievably  set  down  as  a  knot  of  visionary,  delusive  men. 
Moreover,  whether  the  vast  ends  of  trade  and  com 
merce  and  public  travel,  of  the  speedy  centralization 
of  distant  lands  and  communities  into  one  people  and 
one  social  position,  one  neighborhood,  one  knowledge, 
one  faith,  who  before  knew  not  each  other,  were  to  be 
realized,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  whether  all  these  high 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          59 

hopes  were  to  be  given  up  as  impossible,  and  lost 
forever  ? 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  all  the  country 
around,  its  commonalty,  beauty,  and  fashion,  men  of 
learning,  nobility,  and  most  eminent  engineers  and  in 
ventors,  one  and  all,  with  their  hopes  and  fears,  stood 
by  to  witness  the  novel  exhibition.  What  had  been 
practically  accomplished  by  Stephenson  in  the  collieries 
at  Killingworth,  and  upon  the  Stockton  and  Darling 
ton  Railway,  which  he  had  previously  constructed  with 
a  degree  of  success  far  beyond  the  expectations  of  his 
employers,  had  partially  opened  the  eyes  of  the  pub 
lic,  and  the  world  of  gazers  now  looked  upon  the 
subject,  not  as  a  positive  delusion  of  some  cracked 
brain,  but  with  a  timid  yet  wavering  sort  of  faith  that 
seemed  hardly  to  know  what  it  was  about,  or  how  to 
believe  its  own  eyes. 

The  "  Rocket "  made  its  first  trial  by  running  six 
times  back  and  forth  over  the  two-mile  track  ;  and  it 
performed  this  run,  being  twelve  miles,  in  fifty-three 
minutes.  It  then  gave  the  track  to  the  "Novelty," 
which  was  next  called  out  ;  and  on  this  first  day  it  ran 
at  the  rate  of  twenty-four  miles  per  hour,  nearly 
doubling  the  speed  of  the  "  Rocket."  The  "  Nov 
elty"  had  a  bellows  attached  to  its  engine  to  produce 
combustion,  and  used  an  engine  and  boiler  of  the  ordi 
nary  form  as  constructed  by  Boulton  &  Watt.  The 
"  Sans-pariel  "  was  next  called  out,  but  the  day  was 
so  far  spent  that  it  did  not  enter  upon  the  track  until 
the  next  day,  when  its  boiler  became  defective,  and  it 
withdrew  from  the  contest  to  make  amends.  On  the 
second  day,  the  bellows  of  the  "  Novelty  "  also  gave 


60  NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

out,  and  it  hauled  off  for  repairs.  The  boiler  of  the 
"  Sans-pariel  "  was  like  that  of  the  "  Novelty,"  but  it 
used  the  steam-blast  instead  of  a  bellows  to  produce 
combustion.  The  "  Perseverance "  came  upon  the 
track,  but  was  not  able  to  go  beyond  six  miles  per 
hour,  and  was  withdrawn  from  the  contest.  On  this 
day,  the  "  Rocket "  was  again  put  to  the  test.  Stephen- 
son  hitched  an  omnibus  to  it  containing  thirty  persons, 
and  ran  with  his  car-load  of  passengers  at  the  rate  of 
twenty-four  to  thirty  miles  per  hour.1 

The  third  day,  the  "  Rocket  "  ran,  as  its  maximum 
speed,  twenty-nine  miles  per  hour,  with  about  thirteen 
tons'  weight  attached  to  the  engine,  —  its  speed  ex 
ceeding  so  far  any  previous  calculation  on  the  subject, 
and  being  so  far  beyond  anything  the  eyes  of  the  world 
had  ever  before  seen  passing  in  tractile  force  before 
them,  that  it  made  the  exhibition  a  matter  of  wonder 
and  astonishment,  as  well  as  enthusiastic  admiration. 
The  fourth  day,  the  "  Novelty  "  again  appeared  upon 
the  track.  It  passed  down  well,  and  indicated  a  close 
run  with  the  "  Rocket  "  ;  but  on  its  return  the  pipe  of 
its  forcing-pump  burst,  and  it  was  again  withdrawn  for 
repairs.  It  was  afterwards  placed  upon  the  track,  and 
pressed  to  its  maximum  speed  ;  but  did  not  exceed  from 
twenty-four  to  twenty-eight  miles  per  hour.2 

On  the  13th,  the  "  Sans-pariel,"  having  been  placed 
in  repair,  once  more  took  the  course,  oiled  up  its  joints, 
and  fed  its  fires  for  a  more  hopeful  showing.  It  passed 
up  and  down  the  track,  but  was  not  able  to  exceed 
fourteen  miles  per  hour  on  the  average.  At  length 
its  pump  got  out  of  order,  and  it  was  obliged  to  stop 

i  Life  of  Stepkenson,  p.  268.  2  Ibid,  p.  269. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  61 

and  give  up  the  controversy.  The  next  day,  the 
"  Novelty  "  made  another  attempt  to  run  ;  but  it  broke 
down,  and  gave  up  any  further  trial.  The  "  Rocket," 
having  in  all  respects  fulfilled,  and,  indeed,  far  surpassed 
the  conditions  stipulated  in  the  promised  reward,  re 
ceived  the  prize  ;  and  after  the  award  Stephenson, 
with  a  view  to  test  the  actual  speed  of  the  "  Rocket," 
and  show  that  he  had  not  yet  done  what  he  might 
do,  again  put  it  on  the  course,  disencumbered  of  any 
load.  To  the  astonishment  of  all  beholders,  he  now 
ran,  without  accident  or  delay,  at  the  rate  of  thirty- 
five  miles  per  hour ;  and  he  publicly  declared  that  a 
mile  a  minute,  with  proper  improvements  upon  the 
engine,  was  attainable.  It  was  now,  to  use  the  words 
of  Mr.  Smiles,  that  both  "  foul  weather  and  fair 
weather  friends  "  joined  in  eulogizing  Stephenson  for 
his  success  —  a  success  attained  by  the  adoption  of 
the  multi-tubular  boiler.1 

It  is  proper  here  to  notice,  that  the  "  Rocket "  alone 
on  this  occasion,  used  the  multi-tubular  boiler.  The 
boilers  of  the  "  Novelty  "  and  "  Sans-pariel"  were  both 
of  the  same  construction,  and  were  of  two  tubes,  or 
flues,  in  the  form  of  the  letter  U,  and  presented  a 
far  less  amount  of  heating  surface  than  that  of  the 
"Rocket,"  which,  with  the  steam -blast,  gave  to  the 
"Rocket"  its  superior  capacity  and  advantage,  and 
secured  to  it  the  prize.2  Mr.  Smiles,  in  his  "  Life 
of  George  Stephenson,"  remarks  on  this  subject :  — 

1  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  271. 

2  The  steam-blast  was  produced  by  conducting  the  waste  steam  by  a  pipe 
into  the  chimney,  thus  increasing  the  draught  and  effecting  a  more  intense 
combustion  in  the  furnace.     It  was  supposed  that  the  power  of  the  engine 
would  diminish  as  the  velocity  increased ;  but  Stephenson  maintained  and 


62          NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

"  It  was  the  simple  but  admirable  contrivance  of  the  steam, 
blast,  and  its  combination  with  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  with 
its  large  heating  surface,  that  at  once  gave  the  high-pressure 
locomotive  its  vigorous  life,  and  secured  the  triumph  of  the 
railway  system.  As  has  been  well  observed,  this  wonderful 
ability  to  increase  and  multiply  its  powers  of  performance 
with  the  emergency  that  demands  them,  has  made  this  giant 
engine  the  noblest  creation  of  human  wit  —  the  very  lion 
among  machines."  l 

Smiles  does  not  attribute  the  invention  of  the  multi- 
tubular  boiler  to  Stephenson,  but  concedes  that  it  was 
invented  by  some  one  else.2  He  seems  to  have  had  no 
other  information  respecting  it  than  the  account  of 
Seguin's  experiment,  to  whom,  from  the  simple  fact 
that  he  was  known  to  use  it,  he  would  accede  the 
invention,  but  without  any  definite  knowledge  that  he 
(Seguin)  was  in  truth  the  actual  inventor.  It  does 
not  appear  that  Seguin  claimed  the  invention,  —  he 
gave  Stephenson  no  such  information,  —  although  he 
took  out  a  patent  for  it  in  France,  which  he  had  the 
right  to  do,  and  applied  it  to  Stephenson's  engines, 
on  the  St.  Etienne  Railway.  It  is  certainly  a  most 
remarkable  fact,  in  its  relations  to  the  history  of  that 
invention,  that  none  of  our  writers  have  hitherto  been 
able  to  put  their  finger  upon  the  man  whom  they  pre 
sumed  to  say  was  the  actual  inventor.  It  is  barely 
mentioned  by  some  American  authors,  and  referred 

proved  by  experiment  that  the  reverse  was  the  fact  —  that  the  more  rapid 
the  motion  of  the  engine,  the  more  intense  was  the  combustion.  The  cur 
rent  of  air  produced  and  drawn  through  the  tubes  by  the  current  of  steam 
through  the  chimney  (the  steam-blast)  more  than  doubled  the  power  of  the 
engine, 
i  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  288.  2  Ibid.  p.  261. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          63 

to  by  writers  abroad,  that  Stevens  of  New  York  was 
supposed  to  be  the  inventor ;  but  no  writer  has  ever 
given  any  facts  to  support  such  an  assumption.  And 
as  the  matter  now  stands  before  the  world,  the  inven 
tion,  from  the  above  mere  assumptions,  without  any 
evidence  of  that  positive  kind  which  the  case  demands, 
and  which  from  its  very  nature  it  is  susceptible  of  fur 
nishing,  is  carelessly  attributed  to  Stevens  or  Seguin 
—  to  the  former  because  some  one  said  he  claimed  it, 
and  to  the  latter  because  he  used  it.  By  a  reference 
to  Read's  patent,  specification,  and  drawings,  the  evi 
dence  becomes  written  and  positive,  instead  of  circum 
stantial  and  presumptive.  The  absurdity  of  Stevens's 
claims  to  this  invention  will  more  particularly  appear 
when  we  ct>me  to  consider  the  nature  of  his  applica 
tion  to  the  New  York  Legislature  and  the  Commis 
sioners  of  Patents,  in  his  controversy  with  Rumsey  & 
Fitch.  And  how  it  probably  came  to  Seguin's  knowl 
edge,  will  also  appear  hereafter. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  boiler  of  Read  was  constructed  with  special 
reference  to  boats  and  land  carriages,  and  was  placed 
in  a  vertical  position  for  both  ;  and,  as  appears  from  the 
foregoing  note1  from  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica," 
it  is  a  mode  very  effective,  and  coming  more  into  use, 
and  may  be  applied  to  locomotives  as  well  as  boats. 
The  boiler  of  the  locomotive  engine,  however,  has  for 
the  most  part  been  used  in  a  horizontal  position,  with 
the  flame  instead  of  the  water  passing  through  the 
tubes.  But  the  mode  of  using  these  boilers,  whether 
vertical  or  horizontal,  is  regulated  by  utility  or  con 
venience,  as  the  builder  may  decide  for  himself,  and  is 
not  regarded  as  any  part  of  the  invention.  Indeed 
they  may  be  used  in  any  position,  and  with  the  water 
or  flame  passing  through  the  tubes  at  pleasure. 

The  length  and  size  of  the  boiler,  moreover,  is  no 
part  of  the  invention,  as  it  is  designed  to  be  longer  or 
shorter,  and  of  greater  or  less  diameter,  according  to 
the  position  in  which  you  intend  to  place  it,  and  the 
amount  of  work  you  aim  to  have  it  perform.  So,  too, 
the  number  of  tubes  that  pass  through  the  boiler  is  not 
specifically  fixed,  but  may  be  more  or  less  as  desired. 
Read's  boiler,  as  appears  from  the  plan  (see  Plate  I., 
Fig.  4),  had  seventy-eight.  The  "Rocket"  had  but 
twenty-four,  and  Stephenson's  first  locomotive  on  the 
i  See  p.  47. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          65 

London  and  Birmingham  Railway,  a  hundred  and 
twenty-four ; l  and  at  this  day,  usually,  many  more 
than  that  are  used.2  The  size  of  the  tubes  was  smaller 
than  those  in  the  "Rocket"  (these  last  being  three 
inches),  and  larger  than  those  generally  used  at  this 
day,  the  inner  diameter  being,  ordinarily,  about  one 
and  seven- eighths  inches,  the  diameter  of  the  tubes 
depending,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the  number  used 
and  the  size  of  the  boiler.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  plate 
(Fig.  2)  that  the  tubes  were  straight,  and  fitted  into 
the  tube-plates  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  "  Rock 
et,"  3  and  open  at  each  end,  except  the  short  ones 
over  the  fire-grate,  which  were  closed  at  the  lower 
end.  That  there  was  also  a  method  of  heating  the  water 
before  it  passed  into  the  boiler,  —  an  idea  carried  out  in 
the  boiler  of  the  "  Rocket,"  but  in  a  somewhat  differ 
ent  form ;  the  one  by  conducting  the  steam-pipe  and 
funnel  through  the  reservoir,  and  the  other  by  con 
ducting  the  water  along  the  side  of  the  fire  chamber, 
or  box.  The  boiler  was  cylindrical  in  its  form,  as  now 
used,  being  the  best  form  for  strength ; 4  and  it  had 
an  external  and  internal  cylinder,  the  latter  forming 
the  external  part  of  the  furnace,  heating,  in  addition 
to  the  tubes,  a  large  surface  of  water  contained  be 
tween  the  two  cylinders.  It  was  also  furnished  with 
pipes  to  replenish  the  boiler,  and  conduct  the  steam  to 
the  cylinder,  with  suitable  cocks  and  valves  to  regulate 
them,  and  a  safety-valve ;  and  the  boiler  to  be  made 

1  Woolhouse,  vol.  i.  pp.  412,  413. 

2  Of  the  main  boilers  of  the  Great  Eastern  Steamship,  ten  in  all,  four  have 
four  hundred  tubes,  and  six  have  four  hundred  and  twenty  each,  three 
inches  in  diameter. 

8  Woolhouse,  vol.  i.  p.  412,  plate  xc.  4  Ibid,  p.  126. 


66          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

of  copper  or  iron,  and  all  its  parts  properly  brazed  or 
riveted  together. 

Indeed,  it  will  readily  be  seen,  that  by  placing  Read's 
boiler  in  a  horizontal  position,  and  conducting  the  fire 
through  the  tubes  instead  of  the  small  apartments  be 
tween  them,  with  suitable  arrangements  to  conform 
to  this  change,  it  will  in  every  aspect  of  it  be  the 
same  thing  as  that  used  in  the  "  Rocket."  George 
Stephenson,  the  father  of  Robert,  commenced  his  rail 
road  experiments  as  early  as  1814,  and  from  that  time 
up  to  1829,  fifteen  years,  he  was  unable  to  run  his 
locomotive  beyond  seven  or  eight  miles  an  hour.  But 
in  1829,  after  introducing  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
and  the  steam-blast,  as  before  noted,  he  at  once  in 
creased  its  speed  to  thirty-five  miles  per  hour ;  -1  and  by 
one  slight  improvement  after  another,  mostly  in  the 
workmanship  of  the  machinery,  he  afterwards  brought 
it  up  to  a  maximum  speed  of  sixty  miles  per  hour.2 
The  steam-blast,  and  application  of  the  multi-tubular 
boiler,  are  also  spoken  of  "  as  the  two  grand  inven 
tions  of  Stephenson's  life ;  and  as  forming  the  very 
soul  of  the  locomotive."  3 

In  Smiles's  "  Life  of  Stephenson," —  page  five  of  the 
preface,  —  he  remarks,  "  The  invention  of  the  locomo 
tive  engine  and  its  application  to  the  working  of  rail 
ways,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  the 
present  century."  And  he  proceeds  to  consider,  "  What 
manner  of  men  were  they  by  whom  this  great  work 
was  accomplished?  How  did  the  conception  first 

1  Smiles's  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  p.  285. 

2  Westminster  Review,  July,  1857,  p.  128. 
8  Ibid. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  67 

dawn  upon  their  minds  ?  By  what  means  did  railways 
grow  and  quicken  into  such  vigorous  life  ?  By  what 
moral  and  material  agencies  did  the  inventors  and 
founders  of  the  system  work  out  the  ideas  whose  re 
sults  have  been  so  prodigious  ?  " 

In  this  excellent  work,  however,  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  finds  no  place.  His  great  labors  upon  the 
steam-engine  to  prepare  it  for  locomotion,  which  in 
point  of  fact  opened  the  way  for  Stephenson's  sub 
sequent  success  and  triumph,  were  not  known  to  this 
apparently  impartial  author.  Had  he  before  him  the 
evidences  of  Read's  inventions  and  improvements,  no 
doubt  he  would  have  given  him  his  proper  place  in 
his  history  of  railroad  invention  ;  and  awarded  to  him 
his  just  claims  for  the  early  part  he  took  in  working  out 
"  the  ideas  whose  results  have  been  so  prodigious." 
And  although  the  distinguished  author  wrote  as  a  true 
and  loyal  subject  of  a  foreign  country?  there  is  no  reason 
for  imputing  to  him  any  wish  or  desire  to  conceal  the 
labors  or  genius  of  American  inventors,  —  in  this  re 
spect  he  seems  to  take  a  position  far  above  the  fretful 
prejudice  of  other  English  writers  on  the  subject.  He 
does  not  claim  for  Stephenson  that  he  was  the  inventor 
of  the  multi-tubular  boiler ;  but  on  the  other  hand, 
frankly  admits  that  he  was  not ;  and  speaks  of  Seguin's 
experiments  with  it  as  the  first  within  his  knowledge, 
yet  does  not  claim  to  assert  that  Seguin  was  the  in 
ventor  of  it. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

IT  may  not  be  improper  here  to  illustrate  the  sub 
ject,  to  give  some  account  of  the  progress  of  railroad 
invention,  which,  like  the  steam-engine  and  steam 
boat,  was  effected  by  a  succession  of  inventions  and 
improvements  to  cheapen  labor,  and  meet  the  ever- 
extending  demands  of  trade  and  commerce. 

The  first  account  we  have  of  any  attempt  towards  a 
rail  way- track,  was  made  by  Master  Beaumont,  who,  as 
early  as  1630,  laid  down  wooden  rails  to  haul  his  coal 
from  near  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  to  the  river.  The  rails 
were  laid  in  the  ground  for  the  wagon-wheels  to  run 
on,  and  thus  overcome  the  friction  produced  by  the 
yielding  surface  of  common  roads.  By  the  embedding 
of  plank  or  rails,  it  was  found  that  one  horse  would 
draw  a  loaded  wagon  ordinarily  requiring  two  ;  and 
that  the  expense  of  transporting  the  coal  for  ship 
ment  was  thereby  reduced  about  one  half.  These 
were  used  some  forty  or  fifty  years,  before  the  idea  of 
laying  parallel  rails  was  entertained ;  when,  in  1676, 
a  track  was  laid  with  parallel  rails,  and  the  wagon 
wheels  so  fitted  as  to  be  guided  by  and  run  upon  them.1 
These  roads  were  in  use  a  hundred  years  or  more, 
without  any  essential  improvement ;  were  run  in  the 
same  old  way,  and  were,  for  aught  that  appears,  confined 
to  the  hauling  of  coal  on  the  banks  of  the  Tyne.  The 

1  Life  of  George  Stephenson,  p.  68. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          69 

coal  was  transported  from  the  mines,  a  distance  varying 
from  three  to  ten  miles. 

In  1791,  one  Benjamin  Outram  made  an  improve 
ment  upon  these  roads,  by  making  the  upper  surface 
of  the  wooden  rails  convex,  and  applying  cast-iron 
wheels  with  a  concave  periphery,  so  that  the  wheel 
and  rail  closely  fitted  each  other.  These  roads  were 
called  Outram  roads,  and  afterwards,  by  a  contraction 
of  the  name,  "  tram-roads."  l  Before  this,  as  early 
as  1738,  iron  rails  were  used  at  Whitehaven.  We 
find  them  also  in  Scotland,  in  1767.  In  1776  we 
have  an  account  that  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  laid  iron 
rails  upon  cross  timbers,  and  spiked  them  to  the  tim 
bers,  for  the  use  of  his  colliery  at  Sheffield  ;  and  in 
1789,  one  William  Jessup  built  a  railway  in  Leicester 
shire  and  used  cast-iron  edged  rails,  with  flanges  upon 
the  tire  of  his  wagons.2  In  1800,  Benjamin  Outram 
used  stone  in  lieu  of  timbers  for  supporting  his  rails ; 
but  experience  has  shown  that  stone,  from  its  non- 
elastic  character,  is  not  so  suitable  for  cross-ties  as 
timber. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  "  tram-roads  "  were 
entirely  worked  by  horses  ;  and  various  schemes  were 
proposed,  meanwhile,  by  these  projectors  to  save  the 
expense  if  possible  of  horse- power.  One  genius  pro 
posed  sails  as  the  cheapest  and  best  way  of  running  the 
"  tram-roads  ;  "  but  he  found  his  motive  power  so  un 
steady  and  fluctuating,  that  he  abandoned  the  idea  of 
its  utility.  Steam-power  seemed  to  them,  after  all,  to 
be  the  only  thing  that  could  be  successfully  employed 

1  Westminster  Review,  July,  1857,  p.  121. 

2  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  70. 


70          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

as  a  substitute  for  animal  power.  Much  speculation 
had  been  indulged  in  by  one  and  another,  as  to  what 
steam  might  do  if  applied  to  land  carriages  ;  but  no 
one  could  contrive  any  mode  of  making  the  application. 

The  notions  of  men  differed  essentially  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  each  one  who  took  the  matter  into  thought 
seemed  to  have  a  theory  of  his  own.  One  Chapman 
tried  an  experiment,  by  stretching  a  chain  from  one 
end  to  the  other  along  the  centre  of  his  track,  with 
the  chain  passing  once  round  a  grooved  barrel  wheel, 
which  turned  under  the  centre  of  the  engine,  and  as 
the  wheel  turned  the  engine  moved  along  slowly ; l 
but  this  proved  a  tiresome  and  profitless  business. 
Another  man  of  the  name  of  Bronton,  of  Derbyshire, 
rendered  himself  famous  by  the  invention  of  what  he 
called  his  "  Mechanical  Traveller,"  for  which  he  took 
out  a  patent.  It  was  constructed  to  travel  upon  legs, 
"  working  alternately  like  those  of  a  horse."  But  it 
blew  up  in  one  of  his  experiments,  and  killed  several 
persons,  and  thus  the  anticipations  of  the  inventor  were 
brought  to  a  sudden  close.2 

It  was  not  discovered  until  1813  (then  by  Mr. 
Blockett),  that  smooth  wheels  would  adhere  sufficiently 
to  the  rails,  to  draw  any  number  of  wagons  attached 
behind  ;  and  the  absurd  idea,  that  the  wheels  must  be 
cogged  or  toothed,  was  exploded.3  Before  this  a  track 
containing  four  rails  was  used ;  two  for  a  set  of  cog 
wheels  running  on  the  outside,  and  two  for  a  set  of 
smooth  wheels  on  the  inside,  to  sustain  the  weight 

1  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  81. 

2  Lardner  On  the  Steam-engine,  7th  edition,  p.  338. 
8  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  85. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  71 

of  the  load.  Stationary  engines  were  proposed  and 
strongly  advocated  for  the  transportation  of  coal  and 
other  heavy  loads  on  "  tram  "  ways  ;  but  this  was  found 
more  expensive  than  horse-power,  and  given  up.  Indeed, 
so  strongly  was  the  prejudice  fixed  in  favor  of  the  great 
utility  of  "  tram-roads  "  worked  by  horses,  that  but  few 
persons  could  persuade  themselves  that  steam  could  be 
used  with  as  much  economy  or  profit  as  horse-power. 
Even  Tredgold,  that  distinguished  railroad  engineer, 
then  supported  the  opinion  that  locomotives  could  not 
be  driven  so  fast  as  horses,  and  that  stationary  engines, 
if  any  were  used,  would  be  most  economical  and 
safest  —  and,  moreover,  that  any  velocity  beyond  ten 
miles  per  hour,  could  in  no  case  be  expected.1 

Previous  to  1829  no  locomotive  had  exceeded  six  or 
eight  miles  per  hour.2  Even  the  Killingworth  railway, 
which  Stephenson  first  constructed  (in  1814),  using 
the  ordinary  steam-engine,  worked  but  four  miles  per 
hour,  and  was  the  most  successful  of  any  then  con 
structed  ;  yet  it  worked  clumsily,  and  was  found  not 
to  be  so  economical  as  horse-power.  The  prejudice 
against  railways,  in  the  mean  time,  on  account  of  the 
competition  they  created  with  the  laboring  classes,  was 
very  great ;  and  tended  to  check  improvement  in  the 
system.  Even  up  to  the  time  of  constructing  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  it  met  with  such 
opposition  on  the  line  of  it,  among  the  people,  that 

1  Tredgold  On  Railroads,  2d  edition,  p.  119. 

2  The  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railroad,  constructed  by  George  Ste 
phenson,  was  opened  on  the  27th  of  September,  1825 ;  and  was  the  first  rail 
road  ever  opened  for  freight  and  passengers;  yet  the  speed  of  the  engines 
did  not  exceed  six  miles  per  hour ;  —  a  speed  that  passengers  of  the  present 
day  would  hardly  have  the  patience  to  endure. 


72          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

they  drove  off  the  surveyors  with  guns,  and  pitch 
forks,  and  other  deadly  weapons ;  pelted  them  with 
stones  and  missiles,  and  insulted  them  in  all  manner  of 
ways.1  Meanwhile  political  economists  were  divided 
on  the  subject  of  their  utility  ;  some  strongly  advocat 
ing  the  cause  of  the  laboring  classes,  and  supporting 
them  in  their  ill-founded  belief,  that  their  work,  and 
with  it  their  bread,  was  in  danger  of  being  taken  from 
them. 

But  no  human  effort  can  check  the  progress  of  art, 
any  more  than  it  can  check  the  progress  of  freedom. 
Both  will  work  their  way  in  spite  of  opposition,  and 
achieve  new  triumphs,  to  a  more  glorious  consumma 
tion  in  the  future.  Step  by  step  this  great  work  went 
on,  and  various  were  the  experiments  to  construct  a 
railroad  track  and  car  in  such  a  way  as  to  adapt  them 
to  the  old  steam-engine  of  Watt,  which  engine  they 
seemed  to  look  upon  as  a  fixed  thing,  admitting  of 
no  alteration  or  improvement.  Thus,  in  the  words  of 
the  venerable  Dr.  Cotton,  "  they  sought  to  fashioneth 
the  house  to  the  hangings,  instead  of  the  hangings  to 
the  house." 

Not  so  with  Read.  His  great  purpose  had  been  to 
reconstruct  the  steam-engine,  knowing  that  it  could 
not  be  successfully  applied  to  locomotion,  without  very 
extensive  modifications;  in  short,  he  had  labored  to 
u  fashioneth  his  hangings  to  his  house."  To  this 
end,  he  had  invented  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  as  a 
substitute  for  the  old  one  ;  had  dispensed  with  the  con 
denser  ;  and  by  his  own  calculation,  which  seems  not 
to  have  entered  before  into  the  mind  of  any  one,  he 
applied  the  steam  force  of  two  atmospheres,  instead  of 

1  Life  of  Stephenson,  p.  168. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.         73 

one,  to  his  piston,  and  thus  converted  the  condensing 
engine  of  Watt  into  a  complete  working  portable  high- 
pressure  engine, —  the  only  engine  that  can  be  properly 
used  on  railways.  The  steam-engine,  thus  modified 
by  him,  reached  the  point  of  being  light  and  portable. 
It  not  only  dispensed  with  the  weight  of  the  conden 
ser,1  but  of  the  water  to  be  used  to  produce  condensa 
tion, —  the  air-puinp,  working-beam,  and  other  portions 
of  the  machinery,  as  well  as  the  brick  work  and  extra 
weight  of  the  boilers  of  the  old  stationary  engines. 
This  was  twelve  years  before  the  steam-engine  was 
known  to  be  used  in  the  form  of  a  high-pressure  en 
gine  ;  and  the  invention  actually  produced  that  change 
in  the  use  of  steam  as  a  locomotive  power,  that  it  re 
mained  only  to  be  applied,  to  open  that  railroad  sys 
tem  which  has  since  assumed  such  vast  proportions. 
Read,  though  the  inventor  in  1788,  and  patentee  in 
1791,  of  this  high-pressure  portable  engine,  never 
himself  succeeded  in  securing  the  necessary  means  to 
apply  it  to  practical  use ;  but  that  part  of  the  work,  in 
obedience  to  a  stern  necessity,  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
to  others  to  accomplish  ;  and  it  has  been  applied  by 
one  and  another,  until  it  has  become  the  chief  motive 
power,  not  only  for  land  transport,  but  for  inland  navi 
gation  to  a  very  great  extent,  wherever  industrial 
labor,  commerce,  and  civilization  have  found  their 
way. 

1  Leopold,  a  German,  gave  an  account,  in  1718,  of  two  engines,  the  in 
vention  of  which  he  imputed  to  Papin.  One  was  like  the  engine  of  Sav- 
ary,  the  other  war?  an  engine  in  which  steam,  by  means  of  a  four-way  cock, 
and  two  cylinders  and  pistons,  without  the  aid  of  the  atmosphere,  was 
made  to  work  the  engine  without  condensation;  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  any  very  definite  notion  was  entertained  as  to  the  tension  of  steam 
required  to  work  it. 


74  NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Oliver  Evans,  in  1801,  was  the  first  person  known 
to  introduce  high-pressure  steam  to  practical  use, 
which  he  applied  for  grinding  plaster  and  sawing  mar 
ble,  in  Philadelphia.  Trevethick  &  Vivian  were  the 
next,  in  1802,  who  are  known  to  have  used  an  engine 
of  similar  construction1  which  was  many  years  after 
Read's  invention.2  Neither  Evans  or  Trevethick  & 
Vivian,  however,  introduced  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
but  each  used  a  boiler  with  a  single  cylinder,  with 
the  fire  made  within  it. 

"  Richard  Trevethick,  a  captain  in  a  Cornish  tin-mine,  and 
a  pupil  of  William  Murdock,  determined  to  build  a  steam- 
carriage,  adapted  for  use  on  common  roads.  He  took  out  a 
patent  in  1802,  and  Andrew  Vivian,  his  cousin,  joined  him 
in  his  patent,  Vivian  finding  the  money,  and  Trevethick 
the  brains.  The  steam-carriage  built  by  Trevethick  pre 
sented  the  appearance  of  an  ordinary  stage-coach  on  four 
wheels.  It  had  one  horizontal  cylinder,  which,  together 
with  the  boiler  and  furnace-box,  was  placed  in  the  rear  of 
the  hind  axle,  and  the  motion  of  the  piston  was  trans 
mitted  to  a  separate  crank-axle,  from  which,  through  the 
medium  of  a  spur  gear,  the  axle  of  the  driving  wheel  (which 
was  mounted  with  a  fly-wheel)  derived  its  motion.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  note,  that  the  steam-cocks  and  the  forcing-pump, 
as  also  a  bellows,  which  he  used  for  quickening  combustion 
in  the  furnace,  were  worked  off  the  same  crank-axle  ;  and 
that  the  piston  was  not  only  raised  but  depressed  by  the 

1  Woolhouse,  vol.  i.  pp.41, 141;  Rep.  of  Arts,  vol.  iv.  p.  241,  New  Se 
ries  ;  Kenwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  254,  post. 

2  "  High-pressure  engines  usually  work  with  a  tension  of  five  to  six  at 
mospheres;  and  may,  with  proper  construction  and  care,  be  used  with  equal 
safety,  as  condensing  engines;    and  are  far  more  economical,  where  the 
saving  of  weight,  room,  and  cost  is  an  object;  as  in  case  of  locomotives, 
and  boats  for  river  navigation."  — Renwick,  pp.  180, 183. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          75 

action  of  the  steam,  being  in  this  respect  (erroneously  says 
Mr.  Smiles)  '  an  entirely  original  invention,  and  of  great 
merit.'  This  was  the  first  locomotive  put  into  practice. 
Trevethick  &  Vivian  determined  to  exhibit  their  machine  in 
the  capital.  They  set  out  with  the  locomotive  from  near 
Land's-End,  where  it  was  built,  for  Plymouth,  to  be  con 
veyed  from  thence  to  London  on  a  vessel.  Coleridge  relates, 
that  while  the*  vehicle  was  on  the  way  to  Plymouth  at  the 
top  of  its  speed,  it  tore  away  a  gentleman's  garden  fence ; 
and  on  approaching  a  toll-gate  Vivian  called  out  to  Treve 
thick  to  slacken  speed.  He  immediately  shut  off  the  steam  ; 
but  the  momentum  was  so  great  that  the  carriage  came  dead 
upon  the  right  side  of  the  gate,  which  was  quickly  opened 
by  the  toll-keeper.  '  What  have  we  got  to  pay  here/  asked 
Vivian  ?  The  poor  toll-man,  trembling  in  every  limb,  and 
teeth  chattering,  essayed  a  reply.  '  Na,  na,  na,  na '  — 
'  What  have  we  got  to  pay,  I  say  ? '  '  Na  —  nothing  to  pay ! 
My  de —  dear  Mr.  Devil,  do  drive  on  as  fast  as  you  can,  — 
nothing  to  pay/  The  carriage  safely  reached  London  and 
was  there  exhibited ;  and  it  dragged  behind  it  a  wheel  car 
riage  filled  with  passengers.  It  was  impossible  from  the 
badness  of  English  roads  to  introduce  it  into  practical  use  ; 
and  after  exhibiting  it  as  a  curiosity,  it  was  abandoned  by 
Trevethick  as  a  practical  failure." 1 

In  1804  Trevethick  &  Vivian  constructed  a  loco 
motive,  to  run  on  tram-ways,  for  mining  purposes. 
The  first  trial  it  dragged  several  wagons,  carrying 
about  ten  tons  of  iron,  five  miles  per  hour.  "  Yet  it 
proved  like  the  first  steam-carriage,  a  practical  failure. 
It  was  never  employed  to  do  regular  work,  but  was 
abandoned  after  a  few  experiments,  as  the  rails  were 
little  calculated  to  sustain  so  heavy  a  weight ;  and  the 

i  Life  of  Stephenaon,  pp.  76,  77,  78. 


76          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

engine  was  taken  from  the  wheels  and  put  to  work  at 
one  of  the  pumps  in  the  mine.1  The  periphery  of 
the  wheels  of  Trevethick  &  Vivian's  locomotive  was 
made  rough  by  bolt-heads,  to  keep  the  wheels  from 
slipping ;  and  afterwards  in  1811,  racked  or  toothed 
wheels  and  rails  were  used  for  the  same  purpose,  by 
Blenkinsop  of  Leeds,  who  for  several  years  trans 
ported  coal  with  them  from  Middletown  to  Leeds,  a 
distance  of  three  and  a  half  miles,  dragging  some  thirty 
coal  cars,  at  a  speed  of  three  or  four  miles  per  hour. 
These  were  really  the  first  earnest  working  experi 
ments  of  the  locomotive  used  and  continued  for  prac 
tical  purposes.  These  engines  were  worked  with  two 
cylinders.2 

The  boiler  of  the  above  locomotive  of  Trevethick 
&  Vivian,  was  of  cast  iron,  and  unsafe ;  and  although 
it  contained  but  one  tube,  yet  it  was  in  the  form  of 
the  letter  (Jf  passing  in  a  curve  through  the  boiler  with 
one  end  used  for  a  grate  and  furnace,  and  the  other 
connected  with  the  smoke-pipe,  to  emit  the  smoke  and 
heated  air.  The  engine  had  no  condenser,  and  was 
worked  by  high-pressure  steam ;  and  was  used  on  a 
tram-road  at  Merthyr  Tydvil  in  South  Wales,  to  trans 
port  heavy  materials  in  mining  operations.3  The  same 
year,  1804,  that  Trevethick  &  Vivian  tried  their 
engine,  Oliver  Evans  also  put  an  engine  of  the  high- 

l  Life  of  Siephenson,  p.  79.  2  Ibid.  p.  80. 

8  Cyclopedia  of  Useful  Arts,  p.  324.  Mr.  Trevethick,  in  his  evidence  be 
fore  a  Committee  of  Parliament  in  1831,  testified,  "  that  his  Merthyr  Tydvil 
engine  was  a  detached  ingine,  independent  of  all  fixtures,  without  conden 
sing  water,  and  the  fire  enclosed  in  a  boiler  surrounded  by  water,  and  a 
forced  draught  to  prevent  a  high  chimney;  it  was  independent  from  brick 
work,  light,  safe  from  fire,  and  occupying  but  little  room." 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          77 

pressure  principle  into  his  dredging-machine  at  Phil 
adelphia.1  The  engine  of  Evans,  however,  retained 
the  working-beam,  which  may  be  regarded  as  an  ad 
vantage  in  propelling  boats,  but  could  not  be  used  in 
locomotives.  It  is  stated  by  Professor  Renwick,  in 
his  treatise  upon  the  steam-engine,  "  Not  the  least 
of  the  improvements  of  Evans  lies  in  the  form  of  his 
boilers,  which  he  was  the  first  to  make  in  the  form  of 
a  cylinder,  —  a  form  preferable  to  any  other  yet  pro 
posed."  2  As  already  seen,  the  boiler  invented  by 
Read  was  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder,  and  designed  for 
strength,  as  well  as  occupying  but  little  space. 

By  returning  to  Judge  Read's  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson 
of  the  date  of  January  8,  1791,  it  will  be  noticed,  that 
he  speaks  of  two  models  of  boilers  he  had  exhibited 
to  the  Commissioners  the  winter  previous ;  but  which 
he  withdrew,  and  substituted  therefor  the  one  on  which 
he  received  his  patent.  A  sketch  of  one  of  the  boil 
ers  withdrawn  is  found  among  his  papers,  which  will 
show  that  he,  as  appears  by  this  drawing  and  descrip 
tion  of  it,  constructed  the  model  of  a  boiler,  in  which 
the  flame  and  heated  air  passed  through  the  tubes,  and 
consumed  the  smoke.  A  copy  of  the  drawing,  and 
short  memoranda  upon  the  same  paper,  is  all  that 
remains  of  his  account  of  this  invention.  The  paper 
is  filed  in  his  own  handwriting,  "  Steam  Boiler  1790," 
and  under  the  drawing  is  written,  in  his  handwriting 
also,  — 

"  Section  of  a  steam-boiler  which  exposes  a  large  surface ; 
is  fed  from  the  top  through  the  large  tube  a,  and  the  hot 

1  Miiller's  Physics,  p.  517.    American  edition. 

2  Renwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  255. 


78          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

air  and  smoke  passes  up  through  the  winding  passages  and 
escapes  at  b  b. 

"  N.  B.  —  The  boiler  constitutes,  the  whole  furnace,  except 
the  brick  work  at  the  bottom ;  and  it  consumes  the  smoke 
—  oo,  float." 

This  seems  to  establish  the  fact  that  he  invented 
a  tubular  boiler  of  each  kind  :  one  with  the  water 
passing  through  the  tubes,  and  the  other  with  the- 
flame  consuming  the  smoke.  As  seen  from  the  plan, 
this  boiler  also  was  cylindrical.  His  mode  of  feeding  the 
furnace  with  fuel  down  the  large  pipe  a,  is  a  matter 
for  the  curious ;  this  large  tube  a,  added  much  to  the 
amount  of  surface  exposed,  and  served  as  a  part  of 
the  fire  chamber  of  the  furnace ;  when  closed  at  the 
top,  as  was  doubtless  proposed,  it  would  cause  the 
flame  and  heated  air  to  pass  through  the  tubes  ;  and 
his  arrangement  under  the  base  of  the  tube  a,  or  fire- 
chamber,  to  sustain  the  fuel  by  a  thick  plate  of  iron, 
with  open  grates  at  each  end  to  admit  a  current  of  air, 
would  produce  a  strong  draught  through  the  small 
tubes,  and  increase  the  flame  ;  while  the  float  o  o 
would  not  only  indicate  the  height  of  the  water  in  the 
boiler,  but  work  a  valve  in  the  pipe  that  replenished 
the  boiler  with  water  from  the  reservoir.  The  water 
in  the  reservoir  would  also  be  heated  before  entering 
the  boiler,  by  the  smoke-pipes,  and  a  section  of  the 
fire  chamber  passing  through  it.  As  the  plan  does  not 
exhibit  any  other  part  of  the  machinery,  it  does  not 
show  his  mode  of  conducting  the  steam  to  the  cylinder 
and  working  the  engine ;  which  doubtless  was  designed 
in  the  ordinary  form.  We  will  now  proceed  to  notice 
improvements  upon  the  steam-cylinder. 


PLATE   3 


H 


CHAPTER  IX. 

His  improvement  upon  the  steam-cylinder,  con 
tained  in  his  patent,  will  fully  appear  from  the  follow 
ing  draught  and  specification  of  it,  filed  with  the  Com 
missioner  of  Patents  :  — 

"  Specification  of  an  Improved  Steam  Cylinder,  advan 
tageously  constructed  to  work  in  an  horizontal  position. 

PLATE  III. 

"  Figure  3  is  a  perspective  view  of  the  cylinder  and  work 
ing  frame.     A  B,  the  cylinder  which  is  closed  at  the  end  B 
like  the  common  cylinder ;  the  other  end,  A,  is  also  closed 
by  a  cap  or  plate  which  can  be  occasionally  taken  off;   (7, 
the  piston  constructed  in  common  form ;  the  stem  D  moves 
air  tight  in  a  collar  of  hemp,  tightly  compressed  in  a  stuff 
ing-box  that  is  fixed  to  the  centre  of  the  plate  or  cap  B ; 
the  working  frame  c  c  is  fixed  to  the  stem  of  the  piston,  by 
which  it  is  moved  back  and  forth ;  F,  the  steam-pipe  com 
ing  from  the  boiler  and  dividing  itself  into  two  branches 
which  enter  the  ends  of  the  cylinder ;   G,  an  eduction-pipe 
leading  to  the  condenser.      This  pipe  is  formed  by  two 
branches  or  pipes  that  convey  off  the  steam  alternately  from 
each  end  of  the  cylinder ;   abed,  cocks  or  regulators. 
These  are  alternately  opened  and  shut  by  the  pins  e  f  g  h 
i  k,  in  the  working  frame.     As  the  working  frame  moves  to 
wards  -D,  the  pin  e  opens  the  regulator  a,  and  lets  the  steam 
from  the  boiler  into  the  end  A  of  the  cylinder,  while  the  pin 
g  closes  the  regulator  d,  and  shuts  off  the  steam  from  the  end 


80          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

B  of  the  cylinder.  Meanwhile  the  pin  h  closes  the  regu 
lator  c,  and  the  pin  /  opens  the  regulator  b,  and  the  steam 
will  pass  from  the  end  B  to  the  condenser,  while  the  end  A 
will  be  replenished  from  the  boiler  ;  in  consequence  of  which 
the  piston  will  move  from  A  towards  J5,  and  the  pins  of  the 
working  frame  will  open  the  regulators  that  were  closed,  and 
shut  those  that  were  before  opened ;  then  the  end  A  of  the 
cylinder  will  be  exhausted,  and  the  end  B  replenished  with 
steam,  and  the  piston  will  move  back  with  equal  force,  and 
the  whole  operation  be  again  repeated.  NOTE,  —  Sliding- 
plates  or  regulators,  like  those  made  use  of  for  other  engines 
for  letting  in  and  shutting  off  steam  from  the  cylinder,  may 
be  substituted  for  the  cocks  or  regulators  a  b  c  d" 

The  above  invention  was  expressly  designed  to  adapt 
the  steam-engine  to  land  carriages.  This  was  fifteen 
years  before  Evans  and  Trevethick  &  Vivian  tried 
their  first  experiments  with  the  locomotive.  And  al 
though  the  machinery  will  not  compare  in  its  style  with 
the  more  elegant  and  finished  machinery  of  the  present 
day,  yet  proper  allowance  will  be  made  for  this,  as  it 
was  the  first  essay,  as  is  believed,  to  change  the  steam- 
engine  to  the  great  purpose  of  locomotion.  Notwith 
standing  the  simplicity  of  its  construction,  it  embraced 
the  principle,  if  it  did  not  attain  to  the  more  elegant 
and  complex  mechanism  of  our  present  locomotive 
engines. 

The  above  cylinder  so  nearly  resembles  the  cylin 
der  of  Trevethick  &  Vivian,  which  they  first  used,  it 
would  almost  seem  that  theirs  was  constructed  after 
Read's  plan.  The  following  description  of  their  cylin 
der  will  be  interesting  to  the  curious  on  this  point  :  — 

"  The  cylinder  was  placed  upon  its  side,  and  in  one  posi- 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          81 

tion  of  the  cock  a  communication  was  opened  between  the 
boiler  and  one  end  of  the  cylinder,  while  another  communi 
cation  was  opened  between  the  other  end  of  the  cylinder 
and  a  tube  leading  to  the  chimney  (or  the  condenser,  as  the 
case  might  be).  Steam  was  thus  admitted  to  act  on  one 
side  of  the  piston,  and  allowed  to  escape  from  the  other 
side  to  the  chimney.  When  the  piston  attained  the  end 
of  the  stroke  the  position  of  the  cock  was  reversed,  and 
the  steam,  which  had  just  driven  the  piston  in  one  direc 
tion,  was  allowed  to  escape  to  the  chimney,  while  steam 
from  the  boiler  was  admitted  on  the  other  side  of  the  piston, 
to  impel  it  in  the  contrary  direction  ;  and  in  this  manner  the 
piston  was  continually  driven  backward  and  forward,  in  a 
horizontal  direction,  and  parallel  to  the  direction  of  the  load. 
The  piston-rod  was  moved  through  a  hole,  corresponding 
with  it  in  magnitude,  in  the  cover  of  the  cylinder,  in  which 
it  was  rendered  steam-tight  by  a  stuffing-box  properly  lubri 
cated."1 

The  above  description  of  Trevethick  &  Vivian's 
cylinder  is  a  good  description  of  Read's,  and  indeed, 
nearly  an  exact  one.  It  is  certainly  a  matter  of  in 
terest  to  know  how  it  happened,  that  in  the  first  loco 
motive  ever  put  in  operation,  for  which  Trevethick  & 
Vivian  have  the  credit  of  the  invention,  the  cylinder 
admits  of  the  same  description  precisely  as  that  of 
Read's,  which  he  invented  and  patented  fifteen  years 
before. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Judge  Read 
to  the  Hon.  Timothy  Pickering,  will  throw  some  further 
light  on  this  subject :  — 

"  BELFAST,  January  27,  1817. 
"  Hon.  TIMOTHY  PICKERING. 

"  SIR  :     .     .     .     ,     On  examining  my  papers  at  Belfast^ 

1  Vide  Cyclopedia  of  the  Useful  Arts,  p.  324. 
6 


82          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

I  find  that  it  is  upwards  of  twenty-six  years  since  I  invented 
the  steam-engine,  with  horizontal  arms,  similar  in  principle 
to  the  engine  for  which  Mr.  Trevethick  has  recently  re 
ceived  a  patent  in  England.  I  have  now  in  my  possession 
a  drawing  of  the  engine,  and  an  accurate  description  of  its 
principles,  construction,  and  operation,  and  of  the  manner 
of  connecting  it  with  the  boiler,  copied  in  the  year  1789, 
from  my  original  draught,  by  Mr.  William  Shepard  Gray, 
the  cashier  of  Essex  Bank. 

"  With  assurances  of  my  highest  respect  and  esteem, 

"N.  READ." 

The  mere  idea  of  applying  steam  to  land  carriages, 
as  before  stated,  was  not  new.  Watt  and  his  journey 
man,  Murdock,  entertained  the  idea,  and,  in  short, 
tried  to  apply  their  condensing  engine  to  a  small 
model ;  but  they  wholly  failed  in  the  experiment ;  and 
Watt  himself  said  that  there  was  no  use  in  attempting 
to  apply  it.1  And  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Boulton,  Septem 
ber  12,  1786,  in  referring  to  Murdock's  speculations 
on  the  subject,  he  says :  — 

"  In  the  mean  time,  I  wish  William  (meaning  William 
Murdock)  could  be  brought  to  do  as  we  do,  —  to  mind  the 
business  in  hand,  and  let  such  as  Symington  and  Sadlier 
throw  away  their  time  and  money  hunting  shadows." a 

He  regarded  the  thing  as  impracticable,  from  the 
great  heft  of  the  engine,  unless  it  could  be  so  modified 
as  to  make  it  portable.3  Read's  improvements  were 
designed  to  reduce  the  weight  of  the  engine,  and  make 
it  portable.  Hence  he  styled  it  the  "  Portable  Steam- 
engine."  Watt  did  not  seem  to  discover  any  mode 

i  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  343,  post.  2  fad.  p.  349. 

8  Ibid.  p.  340. 


NATHAN  READ  AND  TEE  STEAM-ENGINE.          83 

of  doing  it.  He  suggested  the  idea  of  applying  a  rota 
tive  reacting  steam-wheel,  of  the  form  of  Barker's  cen 
trifugal  reacting  water-wheel ;  but  said  of  it,  "  This 
would  not  abridge  the  size  of  the  boiler ;  and  I  am  not 
sure  that  such  engines  are  practicable." 1  Indeed,  "  the 
impossibility  of  using  the  condensing  engine  was  ascer 
tained  and  admitted  by  Watt."  2 

It  is  claimed  for  Oliver  Evans  that  he  was  the  first 
to  apply  the  steam-engine  to  a  locomotive.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  his  experiment  was  the  same  year  as 
that  of  Trevethick  &  Vivian,  — 1804.  They  were  con 
temporaries  in  the  construction  of  their  locomotives ; 
but  which  first  *4  fired  up"  their  engine  does  not  ap 
pear,  and  is  not  very  material  for  us  to  consider.  Evans 
did  not,  however,  construct  his  machine  for  running 
upon  the  land,  but  on  the  water ;  and  only  proposed  to 
convey  it  to  water  from  the  place  of  building,  —  being 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Schuylkill,  at  Phila 
delphia.  His  machine  weighed  about  twenty- one  tons, 
and  he  designed  it  for  dredging  merely.  He  put  a 
steam-engine  in  it  for  the  purpose  of  working  it  on  the 
river,  and  at  the  same  time  availed  himself  of  the 
power  of  his  engine  to  convey  the  machine,  or  mud- 
scow,  to  the  river.  To  accomplish  this  purpose  he 
placed  wheels  under  it,  and  turned  the  wheels  with 
the  engine,  which  readily  transported  his  dredge  to 
the  water.3  Trevethick  &  Vivian's  machine  was  de 
signed  to  run  upon  a  railroad  track,  or  tram-road,  as 
then  called,  for  the  purpose  of  transportation  upon  the 

1  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt  p.  348. 

2  Renwick,  On  the  Steam-Engine,  p.  297. 
8  Lives  of  Eminent  Mechanics,  p.  76. 


84          NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

land.    Hence  to  them  is  justly  given  the  credit  of  run 
ning  the  first  locomotive,  properly  so  considered. 

Prof.  Ren  wick  states  that  "  Evans  was  the  first  who 
entertained  rational  hopes  of  being  able  to  move  car 
riages  by  steam;"  and  "not  only  was  the  first  to 
entertain  correct  views,  but  was  also  the  first  to  sub 
mit  them  to  practice  in  the  removal  of  his  dredging 
machine."  In  view  of  what  has  been  shown,  these 
conclusions  are  erroneous  in  point  of  fact,  and  not  war 
ranted  by  any  just  interpretation  of  the  case  ;  which 
can  be  accounted  for  in  no  other  way  than  that  the 
professor  had  not  then  been  informed  of  what  others 
had  done.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  difficult  to  see  why 
he  should  give  the  preference  to  Evans,  who  had  con 
structed  no  locomotive  with  a  view  to  its  use  upon 
the  land ;  while  Trevethick  &  Vivian  had  constructed 
theirs  and  applied  it  expressly  for  that  use.  In  the 
second  place,  this  experiment  of  Evans's  was  made  fif 
teen  years,  as  before  noticed,  after  Read's  invention  of 
the  high-pressure  steam-engine,  and  his  improvements 
to  adapt  it  to  land  carriages,  of  which  he  constructed  a 
model.  Evans's  engine,  moreover,  though  acting  upon 
the  high-pressure  principle,  did  not  approach  so  near 
the  locomotive-engine  of  the  present  day  as  Read's. 
Instead  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  constructed  with 
numerous  small  tubes  passing  through  it,  as  now  used, 
his  boiler  consisted  of  only  one  large  tube,  or  flue, 
passing  through  its  centre.2  He  also  retained  the  old 
Newcomen  working-beam,  with  his  cylinder  standing 
in  an  upright  or  vertical  position ;  while  Read  intro- 

1  Renwick's  Treatise  on  the  Steam-Engine,  p.  297. 

2  Muller's  Physics,  p.  518. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  85 

duced  the  cross-head,  and  placed  his  cylinder  in  a 
horizontal  position.  This  arrangement  of  machinery 
by  Evans  never  has  been  used  for  locomotives,  and  in 
point  of  fact  is  wholly  impracticable  for  such  a  purpose. 
Thus  with  an  engine  that  never  has  or  could  be  used 
with  success,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  great  stretch  of 
credulity  to  believe  that  "  Evans  not  only  was  the  first 
to  entertain  correct  views,  but  was  also  the  first  to  sub 
mit  them  to  practice.'' l 

Evans's  experiment  was  but  a  rude  invention  to  con 
vey  his  scow  to  the  river ;  yet,  like  many  others  before 
him,  he  doubtless  had  it  in  mind  to  show  that  he  could 
move  a  machine  upon  the  land,  as  well  as  upon  the 
water,  by  the  force  of  steam,  —  an  idea  he  had  long 
entertained,  and  for  which  he  had  been  much  ridiculed. 
His  machine  was  simply  a  large  flat,  or  scow,  and  his 
engine  of  five  horse-power,  designed  for  raising  the 
mud  into  the  scow.  He  made  wooden  axle-trees  of 
rough  timber,  of  sufficient  length  for  the  scow  to  rest 
upon,  and  used  wheels  constructed  like  common  cart 
wheels.2  He  had  a  wheel  inside  the  scow,  which  he 
turned  with  the  engine,  and  this  wheel  gave  motion  to 
the  wheels  below,  by  means  of  a  chain  or  rope  that 
passed  round  the  hub  of  this  and  one  of  the  forward  - 
wheels,  which  was  also  connected  with  one  of  the  hind 
wheels  in  a  like  manner.3  His  load  was  a  heavy  one 

1  The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  vol.  xx.  p.  581,  1860,  expresses  similar 
views,  taken,  no  doubt,  from  the  above  remarks  of  Prof.  Renwick.    It  says, 
"To  him  (Evans)  may  be  attributed  the  rapid  advancement  of  America  in 
all  that  relates  to  the  introduction  of  the  steam-engine,  in  its  multifarious 
applications,  and  especially  in  steam  navigation."     These  contagious  opin 
ions  are  apt  to  be  worth  but  little. 

2  Hows'  Memoirs  of  American  Mechanics,  p.  76.  8  Ibid. 


86          NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

for  his  engine  to  move  on  a  common  road,  and  it  pro 
gressed  very  slow ;  but  he  succeeded  in  conveying  it 
to  the  river,  where  the  scow  was  taken  from  the 
wheels  and  launched  into  the  water.  This  was  the 
only  endeavor  ever  made  by  Evans  to  move  a  land 
carriage  by  steam. 

Evans,  however,  is  entitled  to  great  credit  for  his 
improvements  upon  the  steam-engine ;  but  they  were 
many  years  subsequent  to  the  inventions  of  Read, 
whose  engine  was  not  only  the  first,  but  a  more  per 
fect  and  complete  development,  of  the  high-pressure 
principle. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  plan  and  specification 
of  the  steam-carriage  invented  by  Read,  which  he  pre 
sented  with  his  petition  to  Congress  for  a  patent,  in 
1790 :  -- 

"PLATE    V. 

"  Fig.  1.     Description  of  a  steam-carriage. 

11 A  A  A  A,  the  wheels  of  the  carriage.  B  JB,  the  hubs  of 
the  hind  wheels,  extending  some  way  on  the  ends  of  the 
axle-tree  in  the  form  of  trundles,  or  pinions,  which,  with  the 
wheels,  are  moved  round  upon  the  axle-tree  by  racks  with 
flexible  teeth,  like  those  described  in  Plate  III.,  Fig.  6. 
(7,  the  boiler.  D  D,  two  pipes  constantly  conveying  steam 
from  the  boiler  to  the  cylinders  E  JS,  which  are  in  a  hori- 
.zontal  position.  Each  pipe  divides  itself  into  two  branches, 
which,  as  in  the  engine  before  described,  alternately  convey 
steam  to  each  end  of  the  cylinder.  F  F9  the  working  frames. 
G  G,  the  racks  with  flexible  teeth,  which  constantly  turn 
the  wheels  round  -the  same  way,  whether  the  plunger  moves 
backward  or  forward.  Jiff,  the  tongue  turned  back  under 


Plate   5 

F  ig.  1 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  87 

the  body  of  the  carriage.  II,  a  horizontal  wheel  between 
the  tongue  and  body  of  the  carriage.  K  K,  two  pulleys  fixed 
on  the  hind  part  of  the  carriage.  1  K,  1  K,  two  strong  ropes 
or  chains  proceeding  from  opposite  sides  of  the  wheel  1 1, 
and  passing  over  the  pulleys  K  K,  and  then  made  fast  to  the 
end  of  the  tongue  H.  Z,  the  director,  by  which  means  the 
wheel  /  /,  and  consequently  the  tongue  and  carriage,  are 
turned  one  way  or  the  other,  as  occasion  requires.  W  W,  two 
cocks  to  shut  off  the  communication  of  steam  between  the 
boiler  and  either  or  both  of  the  cylinders,  as  circumstances 
may  dictate,  a  a  a  a,  eduction-pipes,  with  cocks  alternately 
to  convey  off  the  steam  from  each  end  of  the  cylinder.  The 
cylinders  are  worked  without  a  condenser,  by  letting  the 
steam  vent  itself  against  the  atmosphere ;  in  consequence  of 
which  it  is  necessary  that  the  condensation  of  steam  in  the 
cylinders  should  be  equal  to  the  pressure  of  two  atmospheres, 
in  order  to  produce  the  same  effect  it  would  with  a  condenser 
when  the  condensation  was  equal  to  the  pressure  of  one 
atmosphere.  The  ends  of  the  short  pipes  a  a  a  a  are  turned 
back,  that  the  carriage  may  have  an  additional  impulse  for 
ward. 

"  The  carriage  may  be  turned  either  way  with  great  facil 
ity,  by  means  of  the  cocks  W  W  and  the  director  L.  To  turn 
the  carriage  to  the  right,  the  right-hand  cock  W  should  be 
closed  more  or  less,  according  to  the  shortness  of  the  turn 
ing,  which  will  cheok  the  operation  of  the  right  cylinder,  and 
consequently  retard  the  motion  of  the  right  wheel,  and  at 
the  same  time  tend  to  accelerate  the  motion  of  the  left  wheel ; 
which  prepares  the  carriage  to  be  turned  with  ease  by  mov 
ing  the  director  to  the  left.  After  the  carriage  is  turned, 
the  steam-pipe  should  be  opened  as  before.  To  turn  the 
carriage  to  the  left,  a  contrary  operation  is  necessary.  When 
you  want  to  stop  the  carriage,  close  the  steam-pipes  D  D,  by 
turning  the  cocks  W  W,  and  the  steam  in  the  boiler  will  vent 


88          NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

itself  at  the  valve  nigh  the  bottom  of  the  boiler,  without 
endangering  the  engine. 

"  NOTE.  —  The  whole  of  the  machinery  for  moving  and 
directing  the  steam-carriage,  except  the  top  of  the  boiler,  the 
director,  and  two  regulating  cocks,  are,  for  conveniency,  placed 
under  the  body  of  the  carriage. 

"  NOTE.  —  The  cylinders  may  be  placed  perpendicularly, 
and  impel  the  carriage  forward  by  means  of  clicks  and  mov 
able  pinions ;  but  experience  alone  will  determine  the  best 
method." 

This  steam-carriage,  simple  in  its  construction,  will, 
nevertheless,  show  important  facts  in  relation  to  Read's 
improvements,  at  that  early  day,  upon  the  steam-engine, 
to  fit  it  for  propelling  land  carnages.  It  shows  that  he 
proposed  to  place  the  cylinders  in  a  horizontal  position, 
and  turn  the  wheels  by  applying  the  piston-rod  directly 
to  them,  without  a  working-beam ;  that  he  dispensed 
with  the  condenser,  and  calculated  that  the  density  of 
steam  in  the  cylinders,  on  that  account,  should  be  equal 
at  least  to  the  pressure  of  two  atmospheres  instead  of 
one,  - —  an  important  fact,  as  before  noticed.1  This, 
with  the  invention  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler  to  raise 
high  steam,  changed  Watt's  condensing  into  a  high- 
pressure  engine  complete  in  all  its  parts,  and  dispensed 
with  a  large  share  of  the  bulk  and  weight  of  the  engine. 
Watt,  Murdock,  Symington,  Sadlier,  and  others  had 
speculated  upon  the  same  thing,  without  being  able  to 
make  such  a  change  in  the  steam-engine  as  to  apply  it 
to  locomotion ;  and  Watt,  as  before  stated,  admitted 
that  the  condensing  engine  could  not  be  used  for  such 
a  purpose.2 

1  Ante,  p.  72. 

2  The  following  brief  account  of  Murdock's  experiment  is  quite  amusing : 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  89 

Prior  to  1790,  when  Read  petitioned  Congress 1  to 
secure  a  patent  for  his  invention  of  land  carriages  to 
be  driven  by  steam,  no  successful  application  of  steam- 
power  had  ever  been  directed  to  such  a  purpose  except 
to  meet  with  insurmountable  difficulties,  and  be  rejected 
as  a  thing  impracticable.2  The  idea  that  it  was  capable 
of  giving  wings  to  the  traveller,  and  transporting  over 
land,  as  it  now  does,  the  commerce  of  nations,  was  at 
that  time  wholly  new,  and  to  the  mass  of  mankind  was 
looked  upon  as  a  matter  equally  mysterious  and  vision 
ary.  Even  the  members  of  Congress,  the  congregated 
assemblage  of  the  wisdom  and  intelligence  of  the  coun 
try,  were  so  skeptical  on  the  subject  that  when  Read's 
petition  for  a  patent  for  the  application  of  steam  to  land 
carriages  was  read  by  the  clerk  of  the  House,  a  general 
smile  was  excited  among  the  members,  —  a  different 
look  entirely  from  that  now  seen,  in  the  earnest  debates 
of  Congress  on  the  several  projects  for  opening  lines  of 
railway  to  the  Pacific. 

"  Murdock  constructed,  in  1784,  a  diminutive  steam  locomotive,  heated  by 
a  spirit  lamp,  which  ran  off  from  him,  in  a  dark  evening,  down  a  lane,  in 
Cornwall,  where  he  was  trying  it,  and  was  mistaken  for  the  devil  by  the 
poor  clergyman  of  the  parish,  who  chanced  to  be  returning  home  that  way 
just  as  the  fiery  little  object  was  in  its  mid-career."  —  Westminster  Review, 
No.  33,  p.  121. 

1  This  was  before  the  passage  of  the  "Act  to  promote  the  Progress  of  the 
Useful  Arts." 

2  It  is  stated  in  the  North  American  Review,  July  No.,  1858,  "  that  the 
first  actual  model  of  a  locomotive  of  which  there  is  any  written  account  was 
made  by  a  Frenchman  named  Cugnot,  who  exhibited  it  to  the  Marshal  de 
Saxe  in  1763.    A  second  one,  which  he  made  for  the  king,  is  now  preserved 
in  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Mdtiers.   It  was  considered  too  dangerous 
a  monster  to  be  trusted,  as  when  set  in  motion  it  rushed  forward  and  knocked 
down  a  wall,  after  which  it  was  shot  up."    This  must  have  been  tried  by 
the  old  Newcomen  engine,  probably,  as  none  other  is  known  to  have  then 
been  in  existence. 


90          NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

The  petitioner,  who  was  present  at  the  time  his  ap 
plication  was  read  by  the  clerk,  felt  stung  by  the  indig 
nity  of  the  House,  and  he  withdrew  that  part  of  his 
petition  relating  to  land  carriages.  He  did  this  after 
his  papers  came  before  the  commissioners  of  patents,  to 
whom  the  subject  was  referred  by  Congress,  on  the 
passage  of  the  act  organizing  that  board.  After  the 
withdrawal,  the  commissioners,  through  their  secre 
tary,  Mr.  Remsen,  requested  the  renewal  of  his  appli 
cation  for  his  land  carriage ; l  but  the  manner  of  the 
reception  of  this  part  of  his  petition  to  Congress  by 
that  body,  was  a  matter  with  him  not  easily  over 
come.  He  saw  that  the  members  looked  upon  the 
subject  as  visionary,  which  was  quite  too  trying  for  his 
sensibility  and  better  knowledge  ;  and  he  did  not  renew 
this  part  of  his  petition,  notwithstanding  the  request  of 
the  commissioners,  whose  duty  it  was  to  decide  upon 
the  merits  of  the  application.  He  consequently  took  no 
patent  for  moving  land  carriages  by  steam.2 

There  does  not  however  appear  to  be  any  knowledge 
or  history  before  this,  of  any  change  of  the  old  con 
densing  engine  of  Watt,  into  the  high-pressure  engine 
that  prepared  the  steam-engine  for  land  carriages  or 
locomotives.  Can  it  be  said,  that  Evans  or  any  one 
else  before  this,  invented  or  applied  the  multi-tubular 
boiler,  the  improved  cylinder  placed  in  a  horizontal 
position,  with  the  piston  worked  both  ways  by  a  steam 
force  not  less  than  two  atmospheres,  and  with  the  cross- 
head  and  connecting  rods,  to  a  land  carriage  or  locomo 
tive  ?  Did  Watt  discover  this  machinery,  or  Murdock 

1  See  Mr.  Remsen's  Letter  on  p.  111. 

2  See  Appendix  No.  3. 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          91 

apply  it  to  his  fiery  little  devil  ?  And  the  experiments 
of  Evans,  and  Trevethick  &  Vivian,  with  the  locomo 
tive  had  yet  many  years  to  wait.  In  fact,  the  above- 
named  inventions  embrace  the  essential  parts  of  the 
machinery  of  the  locomotive  engines  now  in  use. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HAVING  said  thus  much  in  reference  to  the  adap 
tation  of  Read's  engine  to  land  carriages,  we  will  now 
return  to  the  steamboat,  and  pursue  his  experiments  in 
relation  to  that  subject.  After  his  improvements  upon 
the  steam-engine,  he  constructed  a  boat  of  sufficient 
size  to  carry  a  man,  with  the  view  of  determining  the 
best  mode  of  propulsion.  It  appeared  to  him  that  paddle- 
wheels  were  the  most  natural  means,  and  by  proper  ad 
justment  to  the  engine  and  boat  would  work  with  ease, 
and  impart  a  greater  and  more  steady  propelling  force 
to  the  boat  than  any  other  plan.  These  had  never 
been  tried  in  America  nor  in  Europe,  in  the  form  he 
proposed  to  apply  them.  Perrier  had  utterly  con 
demned  them  ;  and  the  experiments  of  Hull  and  Miller, 
as  will  be  recollected,  were  upon  different  plans  al 
together  ;  the  former  proposing  but  one  wheel  in  the 
stern  of  the  boat,  and  the  latter  using  but  one  between 
the  kelsons  of  his  double  craft.  From  the  statement 
of  Read,1  it  appears  that  none  of  the  above  experi 
ments  had  come  to  his  knowledge  when  he  applied 
paddle-wheels  to  his  boat.  The  silence  of  Dr.  Frank 
lin  on  the  subject  of  paddle-wheels,  while  he  proposed 
the  plan  of  Bournelli  for  ejecting  water  from  the  stern 
of  the  boat,  and  the  opinion  expressed  by  the  American 
Academy  of  Sciences,  and  other  eminent  men  in  Massa- 

i  Post. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.  93 

chusetts,  that  they  believed  Read  the  original  inventor 
of  paddle-wheels,  as  will  appear  hereafter,  would  seem 
to  confirm  the  idea,  that  neither  he  nor  they  had  a 
knowledge  of  those  experiments. 

His  boat  was  constructed  in  1789 ;  he  attached  the 
paddle-wheels  to  an  axis  extending  across  the  gunwales 
of  the  boat,  turned  by  a  crank ;  and  designed  to  be 
moved  by  his  high-pressure  engine,  with  the  contin 
uous  rotative  principle  of  Watt ;  which  he  (Watt)  had 
invented  and  put  in  operation  in  factories  some  four 
or  five  years  previous.  Watt,  as  before  noticed,  had 
applied  this  motion  to  his  steam-engine  to  make  it  avail 
able  for  turning  the  wheels  of  mills l  and  factories,  with 
out  any  thought  or  purpose  of  applying  it  to  the  wheels 
of  a  steamboat.2  By  means  of  the  crank  worked  by 
hand,  Read  propelled  himself  across  an  arm  of  the 
sea  (called  Porter's  River)  in  Danvers  ;  his  boat  went 
with  great  rapidity  and  worked  to  his  entire  satisfac 
tion.  He  then  satisfied  himself  by  his  experiment 
that  paddle-wheels  would  drive  a  boat  with  great  ease 
and  speed,  when  turned  by  the  power  of  the  steam- 
engine,  and  controlled  by  its  steady  rotative  principle. 
He  at  once  determined  to  use  paddle-wheels  as  the 
mode  of  propelling  his  boat,  and  constructed  the  model 
of  it  accordingly  with  a  view  to  a  patent. 

Several  gentlemen  were  present  and  saw  the  above 
experiment  with  the  boat,  among  whom  was  Rev.  John 
Prince,  D.  D.,  of  Salem  ;  as  the  following  certificates 
of  Dr.  Prince  and  William  Shepard  Gray,  in  their 
own  handwriting,  among  the  papers  left  by  Judge 
Read,  will  more  fully  show.  The  paper  is  filed  in 

1  Ante.  2  Muirhead's  Life  of  Watt,  p.  330. 


94  NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

the  handwriting  of  Read,  "  Memorandum  of  William 
S.  Gray  and  Rev.  John  Prince."  The  following  is  a 
copy :  — 

"MEM0.  —  In  the  summer  of  1788  I  went  to  assist  Mr. 
Nathan  Read  in  keeping  his  apothecary  shop  ;  the  following 
winter  and  in  the  summer  of  1789,  he  was  much  engaged  on 
mechanical  and  philosophical  subjects ;  particularly  in  the 
construction  of  a  steam-engine,  whose  power  might  be  advan 
tageously  applied  to  the  propelling  of  boats  and  carriages ; 
and  in  order  to  ascertain  by  experiment  the  effect  that  float- 
wheels  would  have  upon  the  boat,  I  very  well  remember  that 
he  had  a  light  boat  built  by  a  Mr.  Pierce,  to  which  was  at 
tached  a  pair  of  float-wheels  to  be  moved  by  hand  —  the  ex 
periment  was  tried  in  Porter's  River  in  Danvers.  I  was  not 
a  witness  to  it,  but  was  told  that  it  succeeded  to  his  fullest  ex 
pectations.  The  boat  was  afterwards  brought  back  and  re 
mained  for  some  time  in  the  back  part  of  the  shop ;  why 
steam  was  not  applied  I  then  did  not  make  inquiries,  and 
soon  after  leaving  his  shop  for  other  pursuits,  I  made  no 
further  inquiries  about  it,  but  have  since  understood  it  was 
for  the  want  of  a  sufficient  capital  to  put  it  in  operation. 

"W.  SHEPAKD  GRAY." 

"  SALEM,  December,  1816." 

"  I  recollect  ye  above  facts  stated  by  Mr.  Gray,  and  re 
member  to  have  seen  Mr.  Read  row  about  ye  river  in  ye 
boat ;  but  could  not  ascertain  y°  time  when  ye  boat  was 
made  and  used.  JOHN  PRINCE." 

Colonel  Pickering,  of  Wenham,  Massachusetts,  who 
was  Secretary  of  State  under  the  administration  of 
John  Adams,  and  a  friend  and  acquaintance  of  Judge 
Read  during  his  residence  in  Salem,  and  supposed  to 
be  familiar  with  his  inventions,  speaks  of  his  invention 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          95 

of  paddle-wheels  as  original  with  him,  as  late  as  1817 ; 
which  will  appear  from  the  following  letters  of  intro 
duction  to  Miers  Fisher,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
Richard  Stockton  of  New  Jersey,  given  him  on  the 
occasion  of  his  going  to  Washington  that  year,  on 
business  connected  with  the  patent-office  :  — 

"  WENHAM  (near  SALEM),  December  4, 1817. 
"  DEAR  SIR  :  —  Allow  me  to  introduce  to  you  my  much 
esteemed  friend,  Nathan  Read,  Esquire,  the  ingenious  in 
ventor  and  improver  of  several  useful  machines,  on  account 
of  which  ^ie  is  now  on  his  way  to  Washington. 

"I  believe  you  were  engaged  as  counsel  for  your  friend, 
Colonel  Ogden,  in  relation  to  his  controversy  with  the  Ful- 
tonites,  before  the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey.  At  any  rate, 
I  presume  you  are  acquainted  with  the  merits  of  the  case. 
Mr.  Read  was  the  real  inventor  of  the  essential  part  of 
Fulton's  machinery  —  the  water-wheels  as  applied  to  propel 
boats  by  steam.  Of  this  he  can  produce  satisfactory  evi 
dence,  which  he  will  show  you  if  your  leisure  admits. 

"  I  pray  that  Mr.  Read,  as  a  gentleman  of  science  and 
distinguished  worth,  may  receive  your  attentions. 
"  With  very  respectful  esteem, 

"  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

"TIMOTHY  PICKERING." 

"  RICHARD  STOCKTON,  Esq." 

"  WENHAM  (near  SALEM),  December  4, 1817. 
"  DEAR  SIR  :  You  will  permit  me  to  introduce  to  you 
my  worthy  friend,  Nathan  Read,  Esq.,  the  ingenious  in 
ventor  and  improver  of  several  useful  machines,  for  some  of 
which  he  has  obtained  patents,  and  is  now  going  to  Wash 
ington  for  others.  Such  a  man  will  find  a  patron  in  every 
friend  to  practical  schemes  of  public  utility,  and  receive  your 
attentions  in  particular.  But  what  especially  made  me  de- 


bio          NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

sirous  of  your  seeing  Mr.  Read,  was  the  recollection  of  your 
zealous  patronage  (I  think  I  do  not  mistake)  of  Mr.  Fitch, 
in  his  essays  to  propel  boats  by  steam.  Mr.  Read  will  sat 
isfy  you  that  he  was  the  real  inventor  of  the  grand  and 
essential  parts  of  Fulton's  machinery,  as  applied  to  the  mov 
ing  of  vessels  —  the  water-wheels  ;  and  stated  the  same  in 
his  petition  to  Congress,  in  the  year  1790,  while  sitting  at 
New  York,  where  it  was  publicly  known,  and  where  Fulton, 
I  take  it,  aided  by  Chancellor  Livingston,  began  his  opera 
tions  with  those  wheels. 

"  With  great  respect  and  esteem, 
"  I  am  your  friend, 

"T.  PICKERING." 

"  MIERS  FISHER,  Esq." 

Read's  experiment  with  paddle-wheels,  taken  in 
connection  with  his  engine,  as  shown  by  his  plans, 
drawings,  and  model  which  he  had  constructed,  pre 
sented  a  new  combination  of  machinery,  which  is 
claimed  to  be  the  first  combination  brought  together, 
that  would  admit  of  success  in  steam  navigation  ;  a 
large  portion  of  which  was  of  his  own  invention.  In 
deed,  his  machinery  was  identical  in  all  its  essential 
principles  with  that  used  at  the  present  day  in  the 
smaller  class  of  boats  for  river  navigation,  especially 
upon  the  western  waters  ;  and  nearly  identical  with 
that  used  on  the  first  boat  Fulton  built  upon  the  Hud 
son  in  1807,  which  has  given  him  so  wide  a  reputation 
as  the  reputed  inventor  of  steamboats. 

Feeling  a  strong  assurance  of  success,  he  had  high 
hopes  and  anticipations,  and  looked  forward  in  the 
ardor  of  his  purpose  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  work 
that  promised  so  great  a  revolution.  He  hoped,  more- 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE   STEAM-ENGINE.  97 

over,  to  share  in  the  benefits  of  his  inventions,  and 
thus  obtain  a  compensation  for  his  labors  ;  and  he  took 
measures  at  once  to  secure  a  patent  for  his  improve 
ments.  His  first  step  was  to  lay  his  inventions  before 
the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,1  and  obtain  the 
views  of  that  Society  in  regard  to  their  originality  and 
importance.  Both  subjects  were  examined  by  a  Com 
mittee  of  the  Society,  upon  which  they  made  report,  and 
gave  him  the  following  certificate  thereof,  namely,  — 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  '  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences/  April  1st,  1784,  —  Voted,  That  Richard  Cranch, 
Esq.,  Loammi  Baldwin,  Esq.,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Willard,  and 
Mr.  Caleb  Gannett,  be  a  Committee  to  receive  such  applica 
tions,  as  may  in  future  be  made  to  the  Academy ;  and  after 
examination  had  of  any  piece  of  machinery,  which  they 
shall  judge  of  public  utility,  and  worthy  a  patent,  they  are 
hereby  authorized  to  give  such  testimonials,  in  behalf  of  the 
Academy,  as  they  may  think  expedient. 
"  Copy  examined, 

"  CALEB  GANNETT,  Recording  Secretary." 

"  We,  the  above-named  Committee,  have  examined 
draughts  of  improvements  proposed  by  Mr.  Nathan  Read  of 
Salem,  in  this  Commonwealth,  in  the  steam-engine,  and  its 
application  to  the  moving  of  water  (boats)  and  land  car 
riages.  By  reducing  the  size  of  the  apparatus,  and  yet 
enlarging  the  evaporating  surface,  much  originality  is  dis 
covered,  and  very  beneficial  effects  will  in  our  opinion  be 
secured,  exclusive  of  the  saving  in  the  article  of  fuel.  It 
appears  to  us  that  the  advantages  proposed  by  a  steam-engine 
will  be  enjoyed  in  a  greater  degree",  with  less  inconvenience 
and  at  a  smaller  expense,  on  this  construction  than  on  any 
other  within  our  knowledge.  The  several  plans,  we  think, 

1  This  was  before  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Society. 

7 


98          NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

discover  great  attention  and  sagacity  in  the  author ;  and 
justly  entitle  him  to  the  patronage  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States ;  to  which,  with  deference,  we  recommend 
him  and  his  improvements,  wishing,  that  in  virtue  of  a  pa 
tent,  he  may  be  enabled  to  render  his  theories  of  public 
utility,  and  receive  a  reward  for  his  laudable  industry  in  the 
field  of  science.  "  RICHARD  CRANCH, 

JOSEPH  WILLARD, 
CALEB  GANNETT, 
LOAMMI  BALDWIN. 

"  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  ) 
BOSTON,  January  15,  1790."        ) 

In  addition  to  the  above  he  also  obtained  the  follow 
ing  testimonial,  from  the  distinguished  men  of  Bos 
ton  and  vicinity,  whose  names  are  attached  thereto, 
some  of  whom  were  residents  of  Salem  and  neighbors 
of  Read ;  among  whom  will  be  noticed  the  name  of 
John  Prince,  D.  D.,  the  venerable  pastor  of  Salem, 
who  afterwards,  in  his  advanced  age,  gave  the  certifi 
cate,  as  before  seen,  of  the  experiment  with  the  boat 
and  paddle-wheels :  — 

"We,  the  subscribers,  having  examined  Mr.  Nathan 
Read's  plans  and  drawings,  designed  as  improvements  of 
several  machines,  are  of  opinion  that  they  are  real  improve 
ments,  and  as  far  as  we  know  are  original  inventions. 

"  The  portable  steam-engine,  being  so  constructed  as  to 
work  both  upward  and  downward  with  equal  power,  appears 
to  be  a  great  improvement,  and  is  capable  of  being  applied 
to  many  useful  purposes,  such  as  moving  boats,  wheel  car 
riages,  etc. ;  but  this  seems  to  be  but  a  small  part  of  its 
merit ;  its  portability,  from  its  small  weight  and  bulk,  its 
large  evaporating  surface,  and  its  being  so  constructed  as  to 
produce  large  quantities  of  steam  in  proportion  to  the  fuel 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          99 

employed,  make  it  superior  in  those  respects  to  any  other 
we  are  acquainted  with. 

"E.  A.  HOLYOKE, 

JOHN  PRINCE, 

JOHN  WARREN, 

COTTON  TUFFTS, 

B.  LINCOLN, 

A.  DEXTER, 

E.    WlGGLESWORTH, 

JAMES  WINTHROP, 
SAMUEL  WEBBER, 
ELIPHALET  PEARSON, 
NATHANIEL  W.  APPLETON. 

14  SALEM,  January  20, 1790." 

Congress  at  this  time  was  in  session  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  With  the  above  testimonials,  his  plans 
and  drawings,  and  the  models  of  his  steamboat  and 
land  carriage,  he  went  to  New  York,  and  qn  the  8th 
of  February,  1790,  —  about  two  months  before  the  pas 
sage  of  the  "  Act  to  promote  the  Progress  of  the 
Useful  Arts,"  —  presented  a  petition  to  Congress  for  a 
patent.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  his  petition,  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  the  subject  under  consideration  : l  — 

"  To  the  Honorable  Congress  of  the  United  States :  The 
petition  of  Nathan  Read  of  Salem,  in  Massachusetts,  respect 
fully  showeth ;  .  .  .  .  that  he  has  also  invented  a  portable 
steam-engine,  which  may  be  constructed  with  less  expense,  is 
much  lighter,  occupies  less  space,  and  requires  far  less  fuel, 
than  any  other  within  his  knowledge.  Your  petitioner  has 
likewise  discovered  an  improved  method  of  applying  the 

l  The  same  petition  contained  other  applications  not  connected  with 
steam;  and  having  no  relation  to  the  subject,  that  part  of  the  petition  is 
not  copied. 


100        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

power  of  steam  to  the  purposes  of  navigation  ;  and  has 
formed  a  plan  to  facilitate  land  carriage  by  the  same  agent. 
The  machinery  for  communicating  motion  to  boats,  vessels, 
land  carriages,  etc.,  is  very  simple,  and  takes  up  but  little 
room.1 

"  The  models,  draughts,  and  descriptions  of  the  above-men 
tioned  machines,  engines,  etc.,  having  been  critically  ex 
amined,  and  the  principles  on  which  they  are  constructed 
fully  approved  as  just  and  philosophical,  by  a  select  com 
mittee  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
and  by  several  other  gentlemen,  eminent  for  their  skill  in 
mechanics  and  every  branch  of  physics,  your  petitioner  is 
induced  from  the  extraordinary  expense,  which  in  a  young 
country  always  attends  first  essays  of  every  kind,  to  solicit 
such  aid  from  this  honorable  body  as  will  enable  him  to 
bring  into  general  use  such  machines,  engines,  etc.,  as  may 
be  judged  worthy  of  particular  encouragement,  in  conse 
quence  of  their  subserviency  to  other  arts  and  manufactures, 
and  their  direct  tendency  to  facilitate  the  inland  trade  and 
navigation  of  the  country,  as  well  as  to  enhance  the  value 
of  the  Western  Territory,  by  having  the  effect  of  diminish 
ing  its  distance  from  the  seat  of  government.  Your  peti 
tioner  also  prays,  that  the  benefits  of  his  inventions  and 
improvements  may  be  secured  to  him,  his  heirs,  and  assigns, 
for  such  term  of  years  as  Congress  may  think  fit. 

''  NATHAN  READ. 

"  NEW  YORK,  February  8, 1790." 

He  spent  most  of  the  winter  of  1789-90  in  New 
York,  and  exhibited  the  plans,  drawings,  and  models  of 
his  boat,  and  also  of  his  steam-carriage,  to  President 
Washington  (to  whom  he  had  letters  of  introduction 
from  General  Benjamin  Lincoln),  and  also  to  members 
of  Congress  and  other  gentlemen  there ;  among  whom 

1  See  his  Specification,  post. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  &7'EAH^ENti:>NE.        101 

were  several    distinguished  mechanics,  and.  explliried 
to  them  the  principles  of  his  machinery.1 

While  in  New  York  he  boarded  at  Mrs.  Wheaton's, 
in  company  with  Dr.  Cutler  and  General  Rufus  Put 
nam,  who  were  attending  upon  Congress  as  the  agents 
of  the  Ohio  Land  Company.  They  introduced  to  him 
John  Stevens  of  Hoboken,  who  called  upon  them  at 
their  quarters.  At  this  time,  Read  explained  to  Ste 
vens,  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  subject,  the 
principles  of  his  "  multi-tubular  boiler,"  and  its  adapta 
tion  to  boats  and  land  carriages ;  and  in  the  mean 
time  exhibited  to  him  the  plans  and  drawings  of  his 
boat  with  paddle-wheels,  and  his  mode  of  turning 
them  by  his  improved  cylinder,  etc.2  Stevens  at  that 
time  had  become  interested  in  steamboat  projects, 
which  was  probably  unknown  to  Read.  He  had  ap 
peared  before  the  New  York  legislature  as  the  com 
petitor  of  Rumsey  on  his  application,  before  that  body, 
for  his  water-ejecting  steamboat,  pipe  boiler,  and  rais 
ing  water  for  mills ;  and  in  conjunction  with  Rumsey, 
in  opposition  to  the  law  which  Fitch  had  previously 
obtained,  for  building  steamboats  in  that  State.3  And 
this  same  winter  that  he  examined  Read's  plans  and 
drawings  he  left  the  New  York  legislature  (followed 
by  Rumsey  and  Fitch),  and  presented  his  petition  to 
Congress  for  a  patent  for  generating  steam  and  for 
propelling  vessels  by  steam.  It  is  probable  that  the  ex 
amination  of  Read's  plans  and  drawings,  and  his  models 
(for  it  seems  he  had  his  models  with  him),  gave  Stevens 
a  new  impulse  in  his  steamboat  projects. 

1  See  Judge  Read's  letters  to  Timothy  Pickering  and  D.  Read,  post. 

2  Letters  of  Judge  Read,^osi.  8  See  page  128,  post. 


102       NATtiAN:tiEA\D  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Scad's- steamboat  was  designed  to  be  moved  by  the 
"  multi-tubular  boiler  "  he  had  invented,  his  improved 
cylinder,  acting  under  Watt's  double-action  principle, 
and  paddle-wheels ;  and  his  engine  carried  by  high 
steam,  to  be  used  with  or  without  a  condenser.  This 
properly  fitted  it  for  river  navigation  with  boats  of 
small  size ;  river  navigation  being  then  the  sole  pur 
pose  in  view.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  his  descrip 
tion  of  the  boat,  or  specification  connected  with  the 
drawings  :  — 

"  Description  of  a  boat  or  vessel  to  be  impelled  through 
the  water  and  against  the  stream  of  rapid  rivers,  with  great 
velocity,  by  means  of  float-wheels  moved  by  the  steam- 
engine. 

A.  The  hulk  of  the  boat  or  vessel.     (See  Plate  III.  Fig. 
5.) 

B.  The  Portable  Boiler,  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat. 

(7.  The  new  constructed  cylinder,  firmly  fixed  at  such 
distance  above  the  boiler,  as  to  admit  the  axis  of  the  float- 
wheels  to  turn  freely  and  to  be  raised  or  lowered  as  occasion 
requires. 

D  D.  The  float-wheels,  the  floats  of  which  should  be 
large  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  boat,  and  the  velocity 
with  which  it  is  to  be  moved. 

E  E.  Pinions  fixed  on  the  axis  of  the  float-wheels. 

F.  The  working  frame,  which  should  move  in  grooves  to 
keep  it  steady  and  in  its  proper  place. 

G  G.  Two  racks  on  each  arm  of  the  working  frame,  each 
of  which  has  a  set  of  flexible  teeth  alternately  moving  the 
pinion  the  same  way.  One  rack  or  set  of  teeth  turns  the  pin 
ion  as  the  plunger  descends,  and  the  other  rack  on  the 
opposite  side  towards  the  pinion  the  same  way  when  the 
plunger  ascends ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  float-wheels 


Plate   3 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        103 

have  a  continually  progressive  motion.  The  flexible  teeth  in 
the  racks  are  so  formed  as  always  by  their  own  gravity  to 
keep  their  proper  places,  and  be  ready  to  act.  A  con 
tinually  progressive  motion  may  also  be  given  to  the  boat 
by  means  of  two  movable  wheels  and  clicks,  which  al 
ternately  move  the  pinion  on  the  axis  of  the  float-wheels, 
and  constantly  turn  it  the  same  way.  Either  method  in 
practice  is  very  simple,  and  the  work  contained  within  a 
very  small  space.  There  may  be  a  small  forcing-pump  to 
convey  the  water  reproduced  from  steam  in  the  condenser 
directly  back  into  the  reservoir,  which  is  much  more  eco 
nomical  than  to  supply  it  with  cold  water." 

The  Congress  of  1789-90,  being  the  first  after  the 
close  of  the  laborious  and  stormy  work  of  establishing 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  as  yet  but 
imperfectly  organized.  It  was  moreover  crowded  with 
business  of  the  most  important  and  exciting  character  ; 
and  had  but  little  time  or  thought  to  bestow  upon 
applications  of  a  private  nature.  In  the  mean  time  no 
patent  laws  or  regulations  had  been  established  or 
patent  granted  by  the  General  Government.  Soon 
after  his  petition  was  presented  to  Congress  the  "  Act 
to  promote  the  Progress  of  the  Useful  Arts  "  was  passed, 
constituting  the  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  War, 
and  Attorney  General,  a  board  of  commissioners,  to 
whom  all  matters  of  this  character  were  to  be  referred  ; 
and  his  application  thereupon  came  before  the  Com 
missioners.  He  first  asked  for  a  patent  for  a  boat  con 
sisting  of  paddle-wheels,  his  newly  invented  boiler,  and 
improved  cylinder,  and  for  land  carriages  driven  by 
steam.1  But  unluckily  for  the  petitioner,  in  looking 

1  Ante. 


104        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

over  some  of  the  old  volumes  of  the  "  Transactions  of 
the  Royal  Society,"  he  chanced  to  notice  an  article, 
relating  to  an  experiment  a  long  time  previous,  in 
France,  in  which  it  was  related,  that  paddle-wheels 
and  oars  both  had  been  tried,  to  see  if  they  would 
not  control  the  action  of.  a  ship  of  war  in  a  calm, 
which  experiment  before  that  had  never  come  to  his 
knowledge.1 

Erroneously  supposing  that  such  experiment  inter 
fered  with  his  right  to  a  patent  for  a  boat  with  paddle- 
wheels,  he  withdrew  so  much  of  his  petition  as  related 
to  them  ;  and  under  date  of  January  1,  1791,  pre 
sented  a  new  petition,  and  substituted  a  new  propel 
ling  agent,  which  he  denominated  a  "  rowing  machine,'* 
which  he  had  invented  and  constructed  upon  the 
principle  of  the  chain-pump,  working  in  a  horizontal 
position,  parallel  to  the  keel  of  the  vessel,  with  one 
half  of  the  chain  and  paddles  under  water  and  the 
other  half  out.  This,  he  believed,  would  answer  the 
next  best  purpose  to  paddle-wheels ;  but  he  reluctantly 
made  the  change,  as  he  considered  the  paddle-wheels 
the  preferable  mode.2  But  laboring  under  the  impres 
sions  stated,  and  feeling  bound  to  obey  the  provisions  of 
the  law,  that  seemed  to  require  something  wholly  new 
and  never  before  thought  of,  he  took  a  patent  for 
a  boat  to  be  propelled  by  the  rowing  machine,  for 
his  portable  furnace  boiler  and  improved  cylinder,  as 
shown  by  the  patent  heretofore  inserted.3 

1  See  letters  to  Timothy  Pickering  and  D.  Read,j9os£. 

2  Post. 

8  Extract  from  Specification :  "  The  rowing  machine  will  revolve  like 
the  chain  pump,  and  the  paddles  on  the  lower  half  of  the  chain  will  be 
continually  passing  from  head  to  stern  in  a  direction  parallel  to  the  keel, 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        105 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted,  even  at  the  present  day, 
but  that  the  chain-wheel  may  be  applied  with  tolerable 
success  to  boats  for  river  navigation  ;  yet  that  it  is 
equal  to  the  simple  paddle-wheel  for  river  or  ocean 
navigation,  is  not  to  be  allowed ;  this  sufficiently  ap 
pears  from  the  adoption  and  general  use  of  the  latter. 
Such,  indeed,  was  the  opinion  of  Read,  and  he  was 
entitled  to  a  patent  for  paddle-wheels;  certainly  as 
much  as  Fulton  was,  when  he  (Fulton)  received  his 
patent  for  them  in  1811,  twenty  years  after.  And  it 
is  but  just  to  allow  to  Read,  as  much  for  his  original 
and  avowed  purpose  of  using  them,  as  if  he  had 
actually  patented  them;  they  formed  a  part  of  his 
original  steamboat. 

If  the  above  view  of  the  case  be  correct,  it  follows 
that  Read's  true  combination  of  machinery  for  his 
steamboat,  consisted  of  Watt's  double-acting  principle, 
with  his  own  tubular  boiler,  improved  cylinder,  and 
paddle-wheels ;  a  combination  of  machinery  that  es 
sentially  makes  up  the  inland  steamers  of  the  present 
day.1  We  may  be  the  more  justified  in  looking  at  the 

broadside  against  the  water,  and  impel  the  vessel  forward,  while  the  pad 
dles  on  the  other  half  of  the  chain  pass  back  from  stern  to  head,  out  of 
water,  without  resistance.  This  motion  by  a  crank  may  also  be  given. 
The  size  of  the  machine  should  be  increased  or  diminished,  according  to 
the  power  applied  and  the  resistance  to  be  overcome." 

1  The  multi-tubular  boiler  is  used  at  this  day  in  many  English  boats.  Its 
tubes  are  placed  in  a  vertical  position,  and  the  water  instead  of  the  flame 
passes  through  them.  The  tubes  are  used  in  the  same  way  as  in. Read's 
boiler  but  shorter.  The  drawing  may  be  found  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Brltan- 
nica,  vol.  xx.  p.  651,  which  remarks,  —  "  There  are  three  kinds  of  marine 
boilers  in  use  in  this  country,  namely,  the  rectangulaV  flue  boiler  (which  is 
now  very  generally  discarded),  the  multi-tubular  boiler,  or  as  it  is  more 
usually  called,  the  tubular  boiler,  and  the  shut-flue  boiler.  The  tubular  is 
that  in  most  general  use,  in  which  a  large  heating  surface  is  crowded  into  a 
very  small  space,  and  the  form  of  the  tubes  affords  great  strength.  Shut- 


106        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

subject  in  the  above  light,  as  we  consider  how  much 
bulk  and  weight  he  had  dispensed  with  in  his  improve 
ments  ;  the  furnace  and  boiler,  instead  of  occupying 
two  separate  positions,  were  now  reduced  greatly  in 
size  and  occupied  but  one  position,  while  the  power 
was  increased ;  the  condenser  might  be  dispensed  with 
also,  or  retained  if  desired ;  a  large  share  of  the  ex 
pense  of  fuel  was  provided  against ;  and  although  his 
plan  of  a  boat  shows  the  application  of  the  double  rack 
and  pinion  for  turning  the  wheels,  yet  in  his  specifica 
tion  of  the  chain-wheel,  the  idea  of  applying  cranks,  if 
formd  on  trial  to  be  preferable,  is  secured.  But  the 
racks  and  pinions  having  flexible  teeth,  worked  as  well 
backward  as  forward,  and  would  produce  a  continuous 
rotary  motion  to  the  wheels  as  well  as  a  crank.  But 
experience  has  shown  that  the  crank  is  the  preferable 
mode  ;  yet  either  may  be  worked  by  the  double-acting 
engine. 

The  paddle-wheel  had  been  rejected  by  Fitch,  and 
also  by  Perrier,  partly  on  account  of  the  oblique  resist 
ance  it  met  with,  as  the  paddles  entered  and  emerged 
from  the  water; l  which  difficulty  would  be  greatly 
increased  as  the  boat  was  laden  ;  as  the  wheels  would 
thereby  be  deeper  immersed  and  become  useless.  Read 
had  anticipated  this  difficulty,  and  to  obviate  it,  as  may 
be  seen  from  his  description  of  his  boat,  he  so  con 
structed  them  as  to  be  raised  or  lowered  as  occasion 
might  require.  In  giving  the  rotary  motion  to  his 

flue  boilers  are  constructed  with  numerous  flats,  with  spaces  between  thorn, 
alternating  with  water  and  flame,  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches  apart. 
These  are  more  durable  against  oxydation  from  salt  water,  and  were  used 
in  the  vessels  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Companies." 
I  Ante. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        107 

engine,  it  would  seem  that  he  proposed  the  rack  and 
pinion  or  crank,  as  desired,  though  his  draught  is  after 
the  former  mode.  Both  were  contained  in  his  specifi 
cation  on  which  he  secured  his  patent,  and  it  will  be 
recollected  that  he  used  a  crank  to  turn  the  wheels  of 
his  boat  when  he  made  his  first  experiment  with  it  at 
Danvers.  At  this  day,  now  that  cranks  have  become 
so  familiar  from  their  use,  the  idea  of  using  the  rack 
and  pinion  would  be  regarded  as  somewhat  crude  ;  but 
as  he  considered  either  of  them  practicable,  it  seemed 
to  be  his  purpose  to  secure  both,  and  leave  it  for  future 
experience  to  determine  their  comparative  utility. 

The  invention  of  a  continuous  rotary  motion  was 
no  modern  thing  ;  whether  it  had  its  origin  in  Egypt, 
Arabia,  or  China,  no  one  knows ;  but  it  had  been  in 
use  ever  since  the  invention  of  the  potter's  wheel,  or 
of  the  common  turning  lathe  ;  which  are  moved  by  the 
foot  by  means  of  a  treadle  united  to  a  crank  by  a  con 
necting-rod.  The  old  fashioned  spinning-wheel,  used  for 
twisting  the  thread  of  the  flax,  as  drawn  from  the  distaff 
with  the  thumb  and  finger,  is  a  machine  of  the  same 
sort ;  yet  strange  as  it  may  seem,  when  cranks  had 
been  in  such  long  use  for  these  purposes,  and  in  con 
stant  operation  for  ages  before  the  eyes  of  the  world, 
no  one,  until  about  1780,1  conceived  the  idea  that  they 
could  be  applied  to  any  other  possible  use  than  to 
turn  the  simple  machines  above  named.  Pickard, 
about  1780,  happened  to  think  of  applying  them  to  a 
horizontal  shaft  to  be  moved  by  steam  ;  2  and  the  idea 
of  making  the  steam-engine  turn  a  crank,  was  about 
the  same  time  also  conceived  by  Watt,  and  put  in  oper- 

1  Life  of  Watt,  p.  180;  Irving's  History  of  the  Steam-engine.      '*  Ibid. 


108        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

ation  by  him,  in  the  Albion  Mills,  which  was  in  1787,1 
only  the  year  previous  to  Read's  improvements  of  the 
steam-engine.  No  fly-wheel  was  required  for  his  car 
riage  or  paddle-wheel  boat,  to  carry  the  motion  beyond 
the  dead  points  of  the  piston,  as  the  wheels  themselves 
were  all  that  was  required  to  perform  that  service. 
Of  course  he  would  make  no  representation  of  a  fly 
wheel  in  his  plans. 

1  Ante. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE  name  of  John  Stevens,  of  Hoboken,  has  been 
mentioned  in  connection  with  his  steamboat  projects. 
He  was  then  a  man  of  extensive  wealth1  and  great 
perseverance,  and  the  father  of  John  C.  Stevens  and 
Robert  L.  Stevens,  who  since  that  day  have  distin 
guished  themselves  so  much  in  steam  navigation  upon 
the  Hudson. 

Stevens  seems  to  have  become  somewhat  enthusias 
tic  on  the  subject  of  steamboats,2  and,  backed  up  by 
his  extensive  means  and  partiality  for  mechanical  pur 
suits,  he  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  attempt  to 
build  one.  He,  as  before  noticed,  soon  after  his  ex 
amination  of  Read's  drawings  and  model,  petitioned 
Congress  himself  for  a  patent  for  generating  steam  and 
for  propelling  vessels  by  steam.  Thus  his  petition  and 
Read's  became  pending  before  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  at  the  same  time.  This  called  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  subject  of  patents,  and  it  was  referred, 
on  the  8th  of  February,  1790,  to  a  special  committee, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Burke,  Huntington,  and  Cadwal- 
lader.3 

The  result  of  these  petitions  was  that  the  committee 
reported  to  the  House  the  bill  "to  promote  the  Prog- 

i  Renwick,  p.  283.  2  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  383. 

3  Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  p.  30,  A.  D.  1790. 


110         NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

ress  of  the  Useful  Arts,"  which  was  passed  on  the  10th 
of  April  following. 

In  due  time  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  consisting 
of  Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Knox,  and  Edmund  Ran 
dolph,  was  organized  under  the  act.  Fitch,  however, 
was  displeased  with  some  of  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
and  had  no  great  liking  for  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  hence 
resolved  to  petition  Congress  directly,  instead  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners,  asking  for  an  independent 
law  granting  to  him  the  exclusive  right  of  propelling 
boats  by  steam  in  the  waters  of  the  United  States, 
which  Congress  refused.  This  petition  was  dated  July 
1,  1790,  and  some  five  months  after  Read  and  Ste 
vens  had  made  their  applications  to  Congress.  Fitch 
being  now  turned  over  to  the  provisions  of  the  general 
law,  along  with  the  rest,  afterwards,  on  the  22d  of 
November,  1790,  sent  in  his  petition  directly  to  the 
Board.1  Rumsey  also  had  a  petition  pending  before 
them,  presented  by  his  agent,  he  then  being  in  Eng 
land. 

Rumsey's  petition  was  for  a  boat  propelled  by  eject 
ing  water  at  the  stern;  Fitch's  for  propelling  with 
oars  or  paddles,  and  by  forcing  water  or  air  through  a 
trunk;  Read's  for  his  multi-tubular  boiler,  improved 
cylinder,  and  for  a  boat  with  paddle-wheels ;  and  Ste 
vens  for  propelling  vessels  by  steam,  and  for  a  new 
mode  of  generating  steam.2  It  may  be  well  here  to 
notice,  that  the  history  of  the  respective  cases  precludes 
the  idea  that  any  of  the  other  petitioners  could  have 
derived  their  inventions  from  Stevens ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  claims  of  Stevens,  and  the  propriety 

i  Ante.  z  Post. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        Ill 

or  justice  of  his  petition  for  a  patent  for  propelling  ves 
sels  by  steam,  and  for  a  new  mode  of  generating  steam, 
as  the  original  inventor,  was  questioned.  During  these 
proceedings,  Read  had  noticed  the  experiment  in  France 
with  paddle-wheels,  as  before  stated.1  His  business  be 
fore  Congress  had  been  brought  before  the  Commission 
ers,  after  the  passage  of  the  act,  by  two  new  petitions 
direct  to  the  Board,  —  one  presented  April  16,  1790, 
for  his  improvements  upon  the  steam-engine,  and  the 
other  April  23,  1790,  for  his  method  of  moving  land 
carriages  by  steam,  and  propelling  boats  or  vessels  by  the 
same  agency  by  paddle-wheels,  etc.2  To  simplify  the 
business,  he  withdrew  both  of  the  above  petitions,  and 
presented  his  petition  of  January  1,  1791,  in  lieu  of 
them.  In  his  last  one  he  left  out  his  land  carriage, 
and  substituted  the  chain-wheel  for  paddle-wheels. 
After  thus  arranging  his  papers,  Mr.  Remsen,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board,  wrote  him  as  follows,  as  the 
Committee  had  been  expected  to  meet  in  February :  — 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  January  25, 1791. 

"  SIR  :—  The  Commissioners  named  in  the  'Act  for  the  Pro 
motion  of  Useful  Arts,'  judging  it  most  expedient  not  to 
proceed  further  in  the  business  thereby  committed  to  them, 
until  a  Bill  supplementary  to  said  Act,  and  which  is  now  be 
fore  Congress,  passes,  have  directed  me  to  inform  yon,  that 
the  hearing  of  the  parties  who  have  applied  for  patents  for 
the  discovery  of  new  applications  of  steam  to  useful  pur 
poses,  cannot  take  place  on  the  first  Monday  in  February, 
which  was  the  time  they  had  assigned  for  the  purpose  ;  but 

1  Ante. 

2  See  his  draught  and  description  of  his  steamboat,  before  given,  Ante. 


112         NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

that  they  will  be  duly  informed  of  the  day  as  soon  as  it  is 
fixed. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient 

"  Most  humble  servant, 

"  HENRY  REMSEN,  Jun. l 
"Mr.  NATHAN  REED." 

Previous,  however,  to  the  above  letter,  Read  had 
written  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  inclosing  to  him  his  petition 
of  January  1,  1791,  and  in  this  letter  says:  — 

"  Having  improved  some  of  the  machines  for  which  last 
winter  I  solicited  a  patent,  and  desirous  after  further  im 
provement,  and  communicating  others  to  the  public,  I  must 
request  your  Excellency  to  solicit  the  Honorable  Board  to 
grant  me  leave  to  withdraw  my  former  petitions,  paying  all 
charges  that  have  arisen,  and  to  present  the  inclosed  petition, 
in  which  I  have  stated,  agreeable  to  the  order  of  the  Honor 
able  Board,  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  discoveries  therein 
mentioned I  have  requested  Mr.  Remsen,  by  per 
mission  of  the  Honorable  Board,  to  inclose  me  my  former 
petitions,  and  to  deliver  to  my  order  several  models,  which 
have  too  long  incumbered  your  office." 

The  above  new  petition  does  not  differ  from  those 
previously  presented,  except  in  the  changes  before 
mentioned ;  and  its  terms  are  fully  shown  by  the 
several  specifications,  heretofore  noticed  and  filed  in 
the  Patent  Office  on  the  issuing  of  the  patent. 

On  returning  the  old  petitions  Mr.  Remsen  writes 
as  follows :  — 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  February  5,  1791. 

«  SIR  :  — You  will  receive,  herewith  inclosed,  the  petitions 
you  presented  to  the  Board  on  the  16th  and  23d  of  April 
1  This  letter  has  the  frank  of  Mr.  Jefferson  upon  it. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       113 

last.1  The  models  referred  to  in  them  were  removed  from 
New  York  with  the  effects  of  the  office,  and  will  be  delivered 
to  any  person  empowered  by  you  to  receive  them.  They 
suffered  no  injury  by  the  removal,  having  been  carefully 
packed  with  paper  shavings  in  a  box  provided  for  the  pur 
pose.  I  have  concluded  to  hand  this  to  Mr.  Goodhue  for 
transmission,  as  his  franking  it  will  save  the  postage  that 
would  accrue  on  its  being  sent  without  a  frank,  and  as  its 
going  by  that  conveyance  is  certainly  safer  than  by  stage. 
You  will  excuse  me  for  observing,  that  your  last  petition 
substituted  for  the  two  now  returned,  does  not  include  as 
many  objects  as  they  do.  Your  application  for  a  machine 
for  moving  and  directing  land  carriages  by  steam,  is  not 
therein  renewed,  although  it  should  have  been  if  you  still 
persist  in  it.  I  should  have  retained  the  petition  No.  2, 
had  you  not  inserted  in  the  last  one  sent  your  improved 
method  of  impelling  boats  or  vessels  through  water,  because 
it  contained  your  claims  for  these  two  objects.  You  may 
however  draw  it  over  again,  leaving  out  what  is  included 
between  the  brackets,  and  send  it  as  soon  as  you  please. 
"  I  am,  sir,  with  due  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  HENRY  REMSEN,  Jun'r. 
"  Mr.  NATHAN  READ." 

We  may  now  look  upon  these  several  projectors 
prosecuting  their  claims  before  the  Commissioners  for 
a  common  purpose  —  the  invention  of  the  steamboat ; 
and  each  one  aiming  to  secure  letters-patent  from  the 
government,  granting  exclusive  privileges  in  steam 
navigation,  according  to  the  several  plans  they  pre 
sented.  At  that  time,  the  great  work  of  applying 
steam  to  navigation  in  the  United  States  was  concen- 

i  For  these  petitions,  see  Appendix,  No.  4. 
8 


114        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

trated  in  the  efforts  of  these  men.  Miller  had  aban 
doned  his  experiments,  and  all  was  quiet  in  Europe 
on  the  subject,  and  Fulton  was  at  work  as  a  journey 
man  painter  in  the  studio  of  West  in  London  ;  and 
the  idea  of  engaging  in  any  steamboat  project,  was 
as  foreign  from  his  mind  as  the  Atlantic  Telegraph, 
and  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  had  yet  to  pass  before 
his  first  boat  would  appear  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Hudson. 

It  is  now  a  conceded  point,  that  American  enter 
prise  and  genius  produced  the  steamboat ;  and  it  may 
be  well  to  look  at  this  point  of  time,  and  this  nucleus 
of  projectors,  to  determine  how  large  a  proportion 
of  that  enterprise  and  genius  is  due  to  them  ?  And 
here  again,  a  just  discrimination  should  be  made 
between  these  men,  to  see  who  among  them  had  done 
the  most  to  change  and  fit  the  steam-engine  for  the 
work.  Rumsey  had  tried  his  brief  experiments  upon 
the  Potomac ;  but  had  done  nothing  to  improve  the 
steam-engine  and  prepare  it  for  navigation.  Fitch,  with 
indomitable  perseverance,  had  succeeded  in  driving 
his  boat  six  or  eight  miles  per  hour ;  and  by  constant 
repairs  run  it  for  some  time  at  a  daily  loss.  Did  he 
reach  the  secret  of  success  ;  and  wherein  did  he  leave 
the  steam-engine  any  better  fitted  for  navigation,  than 
when  he  found  it?  Stevens  had  sought  to  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  steam  force  from  such  sources  as  suited 
his  convenience,  and  took  this  occasion  to  place  a  peti 
tion  by  the  side  of  the  others  for  a  patent.  The  Com 
missioners  met  on  the  4th  of  April,  1791,  and  again 
on  the  22d  and  23d  of  the  same  month.  After  these 
meetings  of  the  Commissioners,  Mr.  Remsen  again 
writes  to  Read  as  follows  :  — 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        115 


"  PHILADELPHIA,  July  1, 1791. 

"  SIR  :  —  I  received  your  letter  of  the  18th  of  May  last  a 
few  days  since.1  The  Commissioners,  at  their  meeting  in 
April,  agreed  to  grant  patents  to  all  the  claimants  of  steam- 
patents,  so  far  as  they  had  applied  steam  to  useful  purposes, 
without  taking  it  upon  themselves  to  ascertain  whether 
those  claimants  were  really  the  inventors,  as  they  severally 
alleged  in  their  petitions.  Accordingly  John  Fitch  for  ap 
plying  steam  to  navigation ;  James  Rumsey  for  generating 
steam,  applying  it  to  navigation,  and  to  raise  water ;  yourself, 
(and)  John  Stevens  for  generating  steam,  applying  it  to  raise 
water,  to  work  a  bellows,  and  to  propel  a  vessel ;  and  Engle- 
back  Cruise  to  apply  steam  to  raise  water,  are  all  to  have 
patents.  But  neither  these  or  any  other  patents  have  as  yet 
issued,  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  President,  who  will  sign 
them,  and  two  of  the  Commissioners.  I  presume  they  will  all 
be  finished  ready  for  delivery  by  the  last  of  this  or  begin 
ning  of  the  next  month,  till  which  time  no  certain  opinion 
can  be  formed  as  to  the  amount  of  the  fees  each  patentee 
will  have  to  pay.  By  a  late  order  of  the  Commissioners  you 
will  have  a  patent  for  your  applications  of  steam  which  will 
come  to  —  including  the  expenses  to  which  the  patentees  are 
subjected  by  law  for  their  petitions  and  specifications  — 
about  five  dollars.  I  return  you  the  models  you  first  lodged, 
being  twelve  pieces  in  the  whole,  and  if  you  find  among  them 
any  not  belonging  to  you,  I  must  request  the  favor  of  your 
sending  them  back.  These  models  are  the  only  ones  I  am 
not  perfectly  acquainted  with ;  they  were  deposited  in  Mr. 
Alden's  time,  and  consisting  of  many  pieces,  got  mixed 
with  other  models,  in  the  removal  from  New  York.  I  also 
return  your  specifications  that  you  may  execute  them  in  the 
customary  form,  and  you  may  put  them  under  cover  to  Mr. 
Jefferson  when  executed.  You  will  be  so  good  as  to  men- 

1  No  copy  of  this  letter  is  found  among  Judge  Read's  papers. 


116       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

tion  to  him  whether  the  models,1  which  Captain  Needham 
will  deliver  to  you,  are  the  same  you  lodged  with  the  Com 
missioners  in  New  York.  When  the  patents  are  made  out, 
I  will  let  you  know  it. 

"  I  am,  sir,  with  respect, 

"  Your  most  ob't  humble  servant, 

"  HENRY  REMSEN,  Jun'r. 
"NATHAN  READ,  Esq." 

Patents  were  afterwards  issued  to  each  of  the  above 
claimants,  under  date  of  August  26,  1791,  according 
to  their  respective  applications,  on  the  principles  in 
dicated  in  the  above  letter  of  Mr.  Remsen.  These 
were  the  first  patents  ever  issued  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States.  Read's  was  for  his  portable 
furnace-boiler,  constructed  internally  with  seventy- 
eight  small  tubes,  and  his  improved  cylinder  ; 2  and  to 
each  of  the  petitioners,  himself  included,  for  applying 
steam  to  navigation  by  such  modes  of  propulsion  as 
they  respectively  claimed  in  their  petitions,  leaving 
it  for  the  patentees  to  settle  the  controversy  between 
themselves  whenever  their  patents  should  be  found  to 
clash  with  each  other.  Were  we  allowed  to  question 
the  judgment  and  justice  of  such  men  as  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Henry  Knox,  and  Edmund  Randolph,  who 
constituted  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  we  might  say 
that  this  was  not  only  a  novel,  but  unjustifiable  pro 
cedure.  The  duty  of  this  very  Board  was  to  settle 
and  decide  upon  the  respective  claims  that  came 
before  them,  and  not  turn  over  the  parties  to  the 

1  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  these  models  have  not  been  preserved. 
They  are  not  among  the  effects  left  by  Judge  Read  at  his  residence ;  nor 
did  he  leave  any  memorandum  showing  what  became  of  them. 

2  See  his  patent,  specification,  and  drawings,  ante. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   TEE  STEAM-ENGINE.        117 

adjustment  of  their  rights  by  a  wholesale  system  of 
litigation,  more  intolerable  perhaps  than  a  voluntary 
surrender  of  those  rights.  It  does  not  appear,  how 
ever,  that  any  litigation  grew  out  of  this  dilemma  be 
tween  these  patentees  ;  but  this  was  owing  more  to 
the  incredulity  of  the  public  in  their  steam  projects, 
and  the  consequent  discouragement  they  met  with  at 
that  early  day  in  the  prosecution  of  their  labors,  than 
to  the  position  in  which  the  Commissioners  left  them. 
I  deem  it  proper,  however,  to  notice  that  none  of  the 
other  patents  granted  on  that  occasion  came  in  col 
lision  with  Read's ; 1  neither  of  the  other  parties 
claimed  the  portable  furnace,  alias  multi-tubular  boil 
er,  improved  cylinder,  or  chain-wheels.  But  the 
claims  of  Fitch,  Rumsey,  and  Stevens  clashed  in 
several  respects. 

Fitch's  patent  was,  — 

"  For  applying  the  force  of  steam  to  trunk  or  trunks,  for 
drawing  water  in  at  the  bow  of  a  boat  or  vessel,  and  for 
cing  the  same  out  at  the  stern,  in  order  to  propel  a  boat 
or  vessel  through  the  water.  For  forcing  a  column  of  air 
through  a  trunk  or  trunks,  filled  with  water  by  the  force  of 
steam.  For  forcing  a  column  of  air  through  a  trunk  or 
trunks,  out  at  the  stern,  with  the  bow  valves  closed,  by  the 
force  of  steam ;  and  for  applying  the  force  of  steam  to 
cranks  and  paddles  for  propelling  a  boat  or  vessel  through 
the  water."  2 

Rumsey's  patent  was,  — 

"  For  propelling  boats  or  vessels  by  means  of  the  re 
action  of  a  stream  of  water,  forced  by  the  agency  of  steam 

1  See  Read's  patent  and  specifications,  ante,  p.  48. 

2  Westcott's  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  32T. 


118       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

through  a  trunk  or  cylinder,  parallel  to  the  keel,  out  at  the 
stern ;  and  for  a  more  ample  and  easy  mode  of  generat 
ing  steam,  by  passing  a  small  quantity  of  water  through  an 
incurvated  tube  3$  placed  in  a  furnace,  whereby  the  action 
of  fire  is  communicated  to  the  water  and  steam  in  all  its 
passage  from  the  entrance  to  the  exit,  and  which  kind  of 
boiler  can  be  easily  adapted  to  every  species  of  fire  or  steam- 
engine  ;  and  for  raising  water  by  steam  for  the  turning  of 
mills,  or  for  agricultural  or  other  purposes."  1 

Stevens's  patent  did  not  differ  essentially  from  Rum- 
sey's,  being  for  generating  steam  with  a  like  boiler,  and 
propelling  his  boat  in  a  like  way ;  by  forcing  water 
through  a  trunk  by  steam  and  ejecting  it  at  the  stern 
of  the  vessel ;  and  also  for  raising  water  for  mills,  etc., 
and  working  a  bellows.2  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
the  patents  of  Rumsey,  Fitch,  and  Stevens,  clash  in 
several  particulars  ;  but  that  neither  of  them  inter 
feres  with  the  patent  of  Read. 

1  This  description  is  taken  from  Ramsey's  specification  of  his  steam  in 
ventions  as  presented  by  him  to  the  New  York  Legislature,  and  is  sup 
posed  to  be  the  same  as  that  he  soon  after  presented  to  Congress.  — Docu 
mentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  1099. 

2  See  Report  of  Committee  of  New  York  Legislature,  on  the  Petitions  of 
James  Rumsey,  John  Stevens,  and  John  Fitch,  in  1789. — Ibid.  p.  1092. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THERE  is  an  item  in  this  history  that  should  not 
be  passed  over  here.  In  December,  1788,  James 
Rumsey  petitioned  the  Legislature  of  New  York  for  a 
grant  for  propelling  boats  by  forcing  water  through  a 
trunk,  for  his  pipe-boiler,  and  for  raising  water  for 
mills,  etc.,  by  steam ;  and  on  the  9th  of  January,  1789, 
John  Stevens  (alias  John  Stevens,  Jr.,  as  then  called) 
also  presented  his  petition  to  the  Legislature  of  New 
York,  for  a  grant  similar  to  that  applied  for  by  Rum 
sey.  Fitch,  who  had  obtained  a  previous  grant  from 
the  legislature,  remonstrated  against  these  petitions; 
and  the  subject  having  been  referred  to  a  special  com 
mittee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Livingston,  Havens,  and 
Van  Cortland,  they  reported  :  — 

"  That  nothing  in  the  act,  securing  to  John  Fitch  the  ex 
clusive  right  of  propelling  boats  by  fire  or  steam,  can  be  con 
strued  to  prevent  the  legislature  from  securing  to  James 
Rumsey,  for  a  limited  time,  the  exclusive  right  of  generat 
ing  steam,  by  his  new  invented  method  of  a  pipe-boiler ; 
and  further,  that  they  have  examined  the  petition  of  John 
Stevens,  and  the  draughts  accompanying  the  same,  and  are 
of  opinion,  that  the  method  proposed  by  him  for  propelling 
boats  by  steam,  does  not  materially  differ  in  its  principles 
from  the  mode  proposed  by  James  Rumsey,  and  that  he 
stands  in  the  same  situation  with  respect  to  John  Fitch  as 
the  said  James  Rumsey." 


120       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

The  Committee  reported  a  bill  to  secure  to  Rumsey 
his  pipe-boiler,  and  rejected  the  petition  of  Stevens ; 
Rumsey's  bill,  however,  was  not  passed  by  the  New 
York  Legislature,  and  Fitch's  rights  in  that  State  re 
mained  undisturbed.1 

The  above  proceedings  before  the  Legislature  of 
New  York,  show  several  important  facts,  namely, 
that  the  controversy  between  Fitch,  Rumsey,  and 
Stevens,  commenced  in  the  New  York  Legislature,  in 
an  attempt  there  made  by  Rumsey  to  supplant  Fitch, 
and  overturn  the  rights  he  had  acquired  under  his  act, 
and  of  Stevens  to  supplant  them  both,  in  an  effort  to 
secure  a  grant,  which  Fitch  and  Rumsey  contended 
did  not  belong  to  him,  either  by  invention  or  priority  ; 
that  the  applications  of  Rumsey  and  Stevens  were 
substantially  for  the  same  thing ;  each  having  a  like 
mode  of  generating  steam,  propelling  boats  or  vessels, 
and  raising  water  for  mills,  etc.  ;  that  the  pipe-boiler, 
so  much  talked  about,  consisted  of  one  single  incur- 
vated  pipe,  holding  about  three  gallons  of  water,  twisted 
about  in  a  brick  furnace,  and  giving  no  opportunity 
for  steam  to  escape  from  it  but  at  one  end,  while 
the  other  end  received  the  water  from  the  reservoir.2 
From  these  facts  we  are  enabled  to  distinguish  be 
tween  their  pipe-boiler  and  Read's  multi-tubulkr  boiler  ; 
and,  moreover,  to  learn  that  Read  incidentally  met 
these  three  contestants  before  the  Board  of  Commis 
sioners,  free  from  any  concert  or  collision  with  them  ; 


1  Documentary  History  of  New  York,  vol.  ii.  p.  1092. 

2  See  specification  of  James  Rumsey,  Documentary  History  of  New  York, 
vol.  ii.  p.  1099,  and  affidavits  of  Charles  Morrow,  p.  1027,  and  Joseph 
Barnes,  p.  1028. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       121 

and  that  Rumsey  and  Stevens,  after  trying  their  case 
before  the  New  York  Legislature  without  disturbing 
the  rights  of  Fitch  there,  removed  their  controversy, 
and  sought  to  obtain  from  the  General  Government 
what  they  could  not  get  from  the  State  of  New  York. 
To  show  that  Read's  patent  was  clear  of  any  in 
terference  from  the  others,  we  need  only  make  the 
proper  distinction  between  the  pipe-boiler,  patented 
to  Rumsey  and  Stevens,  and  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
patented  to  Read.  This  distinction  may,  to  a  con 
siderable  extent,  be  at  once  seen  by  looking  at  the 
diagrams  of  the  pipe-boiler  and  furnace,  on  the  oppo 
site  sheet,  and  comparing  them  with  the  drawings  of 
Read's  multi-tubular  boiler  and  furnace.1  But  to  see 
how  entirely  unlike  they  are,  we  are  not  only  to  look  at 
the  form  of  their  construction,  but  at  the  more  impor 
tant  difference  there  is  in  their  power  and  capacity  for 
generating  steam,  and  in  their  strength,  durability, 
and  safety.  The  following  is  Rumsey's  description  of 
the  pipe-boiler,  now  in  the  possession  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  in  his  own  words  :  2  — 

"ABC,  an  iron  pipe  bent  as  represented  by  the  figure  ; 
D  F,  a  pipe  of  the  same  size  with  the  valve  E,  on  the 
turned-up  end.  The  end  F,  is  brazed  to  the  boiler  A  B 
C,  at  B,  and  hangs  down  in  a  perpendicular  direction  to 
discharge  the  steam  at  the  valve  E,  when  the  machine  is 
not  at  work.  This  boiler  is  set  up  in  a  furnace  of  brick, 
and  the  fuel  put  into  the  cavities  formed  by  the  crossings 
of  the  pipe.  The  water  that  makes  the  steam  is  forced  in  at 
the  end  A,  by  a  small  pump.  The  advantage  of  this  boiler 
is,  that  it  presents  a  much  greater  surface  to  a  small  fire 

1  Ante.  2  See  No.  11,  on  opposite  sheet. 


122       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

than  any  other.  The  furnace  is  two  feet  square  inside  ; 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  of  pipe,  two  inches  in  diam 
eter,  is  bent  as  represented  in  the  diagram,  the  surface  of 
which  will  be  sixty  feet  square,1  all  of  which  will  be  in  the 
fire,  as  the  fuel  is  to  be  burnt  in  the  cave  made  by  the  cross 
ing  of  the  pipe,  and  must  therefore  be  very  hot." 2 

From  the  above  description  and  diagrams  of  Rum- 
sey,  and  the  specification  and  drawings  of  Read,3 
we  are  led  to  a  full  discovery  of  the  dissimilarity  of 
the  two  boilers.  The  eye  can  determine  the  differ 
ence  in  the  form,  and  no  comments  on  that  subject 
are  required,  as  they  are  at  once  seen  to  have  little 
or  no  resemblance  to  each  other  in  this  respect.  We 
will  then  proceed  to  inquire  in  general  terms  into  their 
power  and  capacity  for  generating  steam. 

The  pipe-boiler  exposes  sixty  square  feet  of  sur 
face  to  the  fire,  and  but  one  single  aperture  of  the 
size  of  the  interior  diameter  of  the  pipe,  for  the  steam 
to  escape  from,  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  pipe 
where  it  is  connected  with  the  cylinder.  The  multi- 
tubular  boiler  (invented  to  be  longer  or  shorter  at 
pleasure),  allowing  it  to  be  but  six  feet  in  length,  and 
the  average  length  of  the  tubes  but  five  feet,  there 
being  seventy-eight  tubes  proposed  in  the  drawing, 
would  expose  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  square 
feet  of  surface  to  the  fire,  and  have  seventy-eight 
apertures  for  the  steam  to  escape  from.  This  makes 
one  aperture  to  every  two-and  a  half  feet  of  surface 
exposed  to  the  fire,  the  same  the  pipe-boiler  had  for 

1  He  means  sixty  square  feet,  as  is  shown  by  the  length  and  diameter 
of  the  pipe. 

2  Westcott's  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  228.  8  Ante,  p.  50. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        123 

sixty  feet.  In  short  the  pipe-boiler  had  but  one  of 
these  apertures,  while  the  multi-tubular  boiler  had 
seventy- eight  of  the  same  size.  It  will  moreover  be 
seen,  that  the  multi-tubular  boiler  ejects  the  steam  from 
the  upper  end  of  each  of  these  seventy-eight  tubes, 
into  an  apartment  at  the  top  of  the  boiler,  where  the 
steam  is  compressed,  and  from  whence,  as  the  cocks 
are  alternately  opened  and  closed,  it  rushes  through 
a  steam-pipe  of  sufficient  size  and  capacity  to  con 
duct  it  to  the  cylinder;  while  the  steam  from  the 
pipe-boiler  is  conducted  directly  to  the  cylinder,  with 
out  an  opportunity  to  acquire  force  from  compression. 
This  would  reduce  the  power  of  the  pipe-boiler  even 
below  the  comparative  amount  of  steam  it  was  capa 
ble  of  producing ;  but  the  amount  of  steam  it  pro 
duced,  when  compared  with  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
may  be  readily  seen  by  the  most  inexperienced  eye. 
How  much  better  would  a  pipe  be  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  in  length,  resting  in  a  furnace  in  a 
series  of  incurvations,  within  a  space  of  two  feet  square, 
and  exposing  sixty  feet  of  surface  to  the  fire,  than 
one  but  twenty  feet  in  length,  of  the  same  size, 
and  exposing  but  ten  feet  of  surface  to  the  fire  ? 
This  is  a  question  that  can  be  answered  only  by  a 
series  of  experiments  with  exactness ;  but  it  is  self- 
evident,  that  a  pipe  one  hundred  and  twenty  or  but 
twenty  feet  in  length,  and  only  two  inches  in  diameter, 
exposed  in  the  manner  described  to  the  intense  heat  of 
a  furnace,  would,  either  of  them,  generate  as  much 
steam  as  could  pass  out  at  one  end.  If  such  be  the 
case,  a  pipe  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length 
is  no  better  than  one  of  but  twenty.  But  here  is 


124       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

another  matter  to  be  considered  :  in  a  hot  furnace  the 
water  would  occupy  but  the  first  part  of  the  pipe, 
and  the  steam  the  other  part,  and  it  becomes  an  in 
quiry  of  some  importance,  what  effect  the  heat  of 
the  furnace  would  have  upon  the  steam  as  it  passed 
through  one  hundred  feet  of  pipe  intensely  heated  ?  If 
it  could  not  find  vent  and  wholly  escape  from  the  end 
of  the  pipe,  the  pipe  itself  must  explode  ;  and  oxyda- 
tion  would  soon  destroy  it,  if  not  destroyed  by  the  ex 
pansive  force  of  the  steam. 

There  could,  moreover,  be  neither  strength,  dura 
bility,  or  safety,  in  the  pipe-boiler.  However  well  it 
might  be  constructed,  the  heat  of  the  furnace,  as  well 
as  the  expansive  force  of  the  steam  and  oxydation, 
would  destroy  it;  and  if  the  heat  should  be  raised 
very  high,  it  would  at  once  fuse  that  part  of  it  unoc 
cupied  by  water.  Fitch  was  persuaded  to  try  it  once, 
against  his  opinion  of  its  utility,  and  then  it  exploded, 
and  he  flung  it  aside.  Rumsey  had  the  utmost  faith 
in  it,  although  "  it  kept  melting  off  his  solder  and 
coming  to  pieces."  At  best,  its  power  was  limited 
to  very  light  work  ;  and  it  was  wholly  worthless  for 
navigation,  or  any  use  where  the  ordinary  power  of 
steam  was  required. 

The  multi-tubular  boiler,  on  the  other  hand,  is  ca 
pable  of  exerting  the  highest  degree  of  steam-power, 
not  only  for  driving  mills  and  factories,  but  for  propel 
ling  vessels  of  the  largest  class,1  —  every  part  of  it 

1  "  The  Great  Eastern  is  supplied  with  three  distinct  modes  of  propulsion 
—  paddle-wheels,  screw-propellers,  and  sails.  The  engines  for  driving  the 
paddle-wheels  are  horizontal,  of  which  there  are  four;  they  are  of  one 
thousand  nominal  horse-power  each,  with  four  cylinders  74  inches  diame 
ter,  and  length  of  stroke  14  feet,  with  15  revolutions  per  minute.  Each 


No. 


ME 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       125 

comes  in  contact  with  the  water,  is  free  from  oxyda- 
tion,  less  liable  to  explode,  and  infinitely  more  efficient 
in  the  generation  of  steam.  In  fact,  it  has  so  little 
resemblance  to  the  pipe-boiler,  not  only  in  its  form  and 
manner  of  construction,  but  in  its  durability,  power, 
and  fitness,  as  to  bear  no  comparison. 

It  has  been  imputed  to  Stevens  that  he  was  the 
inventor  of  the  multi-tubular  boiler.1  We  have  no 
evidence  that  he  ever  claimed  it  himself;  his  peti 
tions  to  the  New  York  Legislature  and  to  Congress, 
and  his  patent,  do  not  show  it;  but  the  report  of 
the  Committee  of  the  New  York  Legislature,  that  his 
and  Kumsey's  application  was  substantially  for  the 
same  thing,  each  having  the  same  mode  of  generat- 


engine  may  be  worked  independent  of  the  others,  and  combined,  work  up 
to  3,000  horse-power,  with  15  Ibs.  of  steam;  and  with  25  Ibs.  of  steam,  to 
5,000  horse-power.  The  steam  for  these  engines  is  generated  in  4  multi- 
tubular  boilers,  each  17  feet  9  inches  long,  17  feet  6  inches  wide,  and  13 
feet  9  inches  high,  weighing  50  tons  and  containing  40  tons  of  water.  The 
tubes  are  of  brass,  3  inches  in  diameter,  and  400  in  number ;  and  there  are 
ten  furnaces  to  each  boiler.  There  are  4  horizontal  engines,  also,  for  turn 
ing  the  screw-propeller,  with  4  cylinders  of  84  inches  each  in  diameter, 
with  4  feet  stroke,  and  50  revolutions  per  minute,  and  working  up  from 
4,500  to  6,500  horse-power.  The  boilers  are  18  feet  6  inches  long,  17  feet  6 
inches  wide,  and  14  feet  high,  six  in  number,  each  weighing  57  tons,  and 
containing  45  tons  of  water.  They  are  multi-tubular,  each  of  them  con 
taining  420  brass  tubes,  of  three  inches  diameter.  These  boilers  may  all  be 
applied  to  either  set  of  engines.  There  are  also  two  auxiliary{engines,  high- 
pressure,  of  70  horse-power  each,  used  for  lifting  the  screw  and  doing  other 
work  about  the  ship,  and  ten  donkey-engines  to  supply  the  large  boilers 
with  water.  The  paddle-wheels  are  56  feet  in  diameter,  with  30  floats  to 
each  wheel,  13  feet  in  length  and  3  feet  in  width.  The  screw-propeller  is  24 
feet  in  diameter,  and  weighs  36  tons.  It  has  4  fans  fitting  into  a  large 
boss  on  the  shaft;  the  screw  shaft  is  160  feet  long,  and  weighs  60  tons;  it  is 
constructed  of  iron,  forged  and  put  together  in  sections,  the  largest  section 
weighing  35  tons."  —  Semi-  Weekly  Courier  $  Inquirer,  June  30, 1860. 
1  Kenwick  On  the  Steam-engine,  p.  283. 


126       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

ing  steam  and  propelling  their  boats,  virtually  dis 
proves  it.  In  one  form  and  another,  all  three  of  the 
men,  Fitch,  Rumsey,  and  Stevens,  made  their  claims 
upon  the  pipe-boiler ;  but  it  nowhere  appears  either 
of  them  made  any  claim  to  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
which  was  a  thing  as  distinctly  marked  and  as  dif 
ferent  in  principle  and  construction,  almost,  as  is  a  lead 
pipe  from  a  locomotive  engine.  Indeed,  at  that  day, 
the  multi-tubular  boiler  had  never  come  into  the  idea 
of  either  of  them  until  exhibited  by  Read. 

If  Stevens,  or  his  successors,  used  the  multi-tubu 
lar  boiler  in  any  of  the  boats  they  afterwards  built,  it 
must  have  been  many  years  after  Read's  exhibition 
and  patent  of  it.  Moreover,  the  application  of  Read 
was  pending  before  the  Commissioners,  and  his  patent 
granted  under  the  eyes  of  Stevens,  and  must  have 
been  with  his  knowledge  ;  and  if  he  used  it  in 
preference  to  his  pipe-boiler,  it  would  be  no  more  than 
the  use  of  Read's  chain-wheel,  which  he  put  into  his 
first  boat  in  lieu  of  his  own  water-ejecting  mode  of 
propulsion.1  But  it  would  be  no  strange  thing,  if —  in 
the  lack  of  knowledge  and  discrimination  which  must 
needs  have  obscured  the  public  mind  at  that  day  as  to 
the  true  character  of  these  inventions  —  the  different 
modes  of  generating  steam,  patented  at  the  same  time 
should  be  confounded,  and  the  two  boilers  indiscrim 
inately  spoken  of  and  imputed  to  Stevens  ;  more  es 
pecially  as  he  was  afterwards  the  active  man  before 
the  world,  in  the  attempt  to  construct  a  steamboat,  — 
being  previous  to  Fulton's  experiment  upon  the  Hud 
son,  and  covering  the  time  when  Livingston,  Stevens, 

1  Sezpost. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       127 

and  Rosevelt,  were  in  company  in  their  efforts  to  build 
a  living  boat. 

It  is  stated  that  Stevens  used  a  tubular  boiler  and  a 
propeller  in  an  experimental  boat  built  at  his  shop, 
under  the  charge  of  his  son,  Colonel  John  C.  Stevens, 
in  1804.1  This  may  be  true  ;  yet  it  is  no  proof  that  he 
invented  either  the  one  or  the  other  ;  but  the  fact  that 
he  used  it  may  be  an  additional  reason  to  show  why 
the  invention  was  imputed  to  him.  If  Stevens  used  a 
tubular  boiler  at  that  time,  it  would  be  about  the  time, 
or  soon  after  Read's  patent  of  it  had  expired ;  and 
whether  the  boiler  which  he  used  was  the  multi-tub 
ular  boiler  patented  by  Read,  or  his  own  pipe-boiler, 
to  which  the  name  of  tubular  boiler  has  been  some 
times  given,  does  not  appear.  Professor  Renwick  in 
his  "  Treatise  on  the  Steam-engine,"  2  says :  — 

"  John  Stevens  of  Hoboken  commenced  his  experiments 

in  steam  navigation  in  1791 Stevens's  experiments 

were  conducted  at  intervals  up  to  1807.     During  these  ex 
periments  he  invented  the  tubular  boiler,"  etc. 

The  Professor  makes  no  distinction  here  between 
the  multi-tubular  boiler  and  pipe-boiler,  but  seems  not 
to  have  understood  the  difference,  or  else  to  have 
supposed  that  they  meant  one  and  the  same  thing.3 

1  See  Lecture  of  Charles  King,  LL.  D.,  delivered  before  the  Mechanics' 
Society,  New  York,  1851. 

2  See  post. 

8  Professor  Renwick's  Treatise  was  published  in  1830,  and  in  his  Preface 
he  gives  credit  to  Robert  L.  Stevens  (son  of  John  Stevens),  and  expresses 
his  obligations  to  him  for  the  facts  furnished  by  him  for  hia  Treatise,  in  re 
lation  to  the  first  steamboats  upon  the  Hudson.  Of  course  the  information 
he  received  was,  on  this  particular  subject,  as  indefinite  as  he  penned  it. 
Under  the  idea  that  the  pipe-boiler  was  the  first  tubular  boiler  invented,  it 
would  be  very  natural  for  Robert  L.  Stevens  to  give  the  credit  to  his  father 


128       NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Moreover,  if  it  is  meant  that  Stevens  invented  the 
multi-tubular  boiler  "  during  these  experiments,"  i.  e. 
from  1791  to  1807,  it  could  not  have  been  contained 
in  his  patent  of  August  26,  1791,  as  it  was  issued 
upon  his  application  made  to  Congress,  a  year  or  two 
before  he  commenced  any  experiments ;  and  the  idea 
that  he  invented  it  during  this  time  is  met  by  Read's 
previous  patent  of  it,  —  a  fact  authenticated  in  the 
Patent-office  Department,  and  known  to  Stevens. 

For  ten  years  after  Read  obtained  his  patent  the 
elder  Stevens  was  for  the  most  part  at  work  at  his 
shop  in  Hoboken,  trying  to  build  a  steam-engine,  and 
sought  to  raise  up  mechanics  and  acquire  the  needful 
information  for  the  work  ;  and  he  built  no  boat  before 
1801  of  sufficient  capacity  and  completeness  to  try 
any  satisfactory  experiments.  This  was  the  one  he, 
Livingston,  and  Rosevelt  commenced  together,  and 
which  was  left  on  his  hands,  as  will  be  hereafter  seen, 
when  Livingston  left  the  concern  and  went  to  France. 
This  boat  was  so  constructed  as  to  be  propelled  by  a 
"  system  of  paddles  resembling  a  horizontal  chain- 
pump."  The  invention  of  this  "  system  of  paddles," 
Professor  Renwick1  also  ascribes  to  Stevens,  when 
in  fact  it  was  contained  in  Read's  patent  alone.  This 
error  can  be  accounted  for  on  no  other  view  of  it  than 
that  applied  to  the  tubular  boiler.  Stevens  must  have 
borrowed  both  of  them  from  Read's  specifications  and 
drawings,  and  after  so  long  and  quiet  a  lapse  of  time, 
applied  them  to  his  boat,  and  thus  obtained  the  reputa- 

in   general  terms;   and    be  put  down  by  the  writer  in  terms  equally 
general. 
1  Renwick,  Treatise  on  the  Steam-engine,  p.  284. 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        129 

tion  of  their  inventor.  Stevens  himself,  however,  un 
derstood  the  whole  subject,  and  made  no  claim  to  their 
invention  ;  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  compliment  to 
Read  that  Stevens  should  place  such  confidence  in  his 
inventions,  as  to  try  them  in  the  first  boat  he  built  in 
preference  to  those  of  his  own  patent. 

As  to  the  "  system  of  paddles,"  it  would  be  quite 
natural  for  any  one  to  suppose  that  the  patentee,  to  say 
the  least,  regarded  it  as  the  preferable  mode  of  propel 
ling  boats  ;  and  this  may  explain  in  some  measure  why 
Stevens  at  first  constructed  his  boat  with  this  apparatus 
attached,  and  why  he  also  attached  the  tubular  boiler. 
It  will  also  be  seen  that  Stevens  himself,  as  well  as 
others,  finally  adopted  the  paddle-wheel,  which  Read 
applied  for  in  his  first  petition.1 

1  One  Samuel  Morey,  of  New  London,  built  a  small  craft  in  1793  with  a 
wheel  in  the  stern,  something  like  Hull's.  Morey  afterwards,  by  the  aid  of 
Burgess  Allison,  built  a  boat  near  Bordentown,  N.  J.,  in  1797,  with  paddle- 
wheels  at  the  sides:  "  The  shaft  moved  across  the  boat  with  a  shackle-bar, 
commonly  so  called,  which  moved  on  the  principle  which  is  now  (1819) 
used  in  the  largest  boats."  —  Duer's  Second  Letter  to  Golden. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

BUT  these  inventions  of  Read  had  a  broader  applica 
tion  and  use  than  hitherto  considered.  When  Fulton 
brought  himself  to  the  work  of  practically  effecting  the 
great  purpose  of  navigation  by  steam,  —  a  work  which 
has  given  to  him  a  name  immortal  in  the  annals  of  his 
country  and  of  the  world,  —  it  will  be  found  on  an 
impartial  comparison,  that  the  machinery  which  he 
brought  together  to  secure  his  success  was  substan 
tially  the  same,  and  having  the  same  combination,  as 
the  machinery  which  Read  had  invented  and  put  to 
gether,  for  a  like  purpose  twenty  years  before.  And 
it  will  require  no  stretch  of  credulity  for  any  one  to 
believe,  when  the  subject  is  more  fully  presented,  that 
Read's  plan  of  a  steamboat  came  to  the  knowledge  of 
Fulton,  and  was  by  him  adopted  in  the  construction  of 
his  experimental  boat  upon  the  Seine,  and  of  his  first 
boat  upon  the  Hudson,  which  proved  to  be  the  first 
successful  steamer  ever  put  in  working  operation. 

The  originality  of  the  steamboat,  now  that  it  has 
taken  so  distinguished  a  part  in  the  wide  field  of  human 
enterprise,  has  been  a  question  that  has  entered  into 
the  controversial  claims  of  individuals  and  nations. 
Various  persons  have  appeared  before  the  public  and 
claimed  the  honor  of  original  inventors  of  it ;  and  dif 
ferent  nations  have  sought  to  secure  that  honor  as  a 
source  of  national  pride  and  glory.  Indeed,  a  vast 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        131 

amount  of  ink  and  paper,  and  laborious  research  have 
been  expended,  in  the  advocacy  and  investigation 
of  one  man's  claim  and  then  another.  Meanwhile, 
legislative  bodies  have  been  invoked ;  laws  have  been 
passed  recognizing,  and  thus  attempting  to  legalize 
fictitious  claims ;  courts  and  juries  have  been  ap 
pealed  to  for  the  same  purpose  ;  and  public  senti 
ment  tampered  with  by  one  device  and  another. 
And  yet  the  question,  "  Who  was  the  inventor  of  the 
steamboat?"  has  never  been  settled. 

The  reason  for  all  this  is  obvious.  It  never  can 
be  settled  so  long  as  there  is  a  purpose  to  attach  the 
invention  to  any  one  man.  Lay  selfishness  aside,  and 
allow  to  each  projector,  who  had  actually  contributed 
more  or  less  toward  the  work,  his  equitable  share  in 
its  honors,  according  to  the  aid  he  gave  it  and  the 
progress  he  effected,  and  there  would  be  no  trouble 
in  settling  the  question.  This  mode  of  settlement  is 
just ;  but  it  still  remains  to  be  made  ;  and  let  it  be 
done,  as  time  and  opportunity  and  a  more  intelli 
gent  public  sentiment  on  the  subject  may  demand. 
It  is  enough  for  the  purpose  of  these  few  pages  to 
lay  before  the  public  the  simple  facts,  showing  the 
part  one  individual  took  in  this  invention. 

I  speak  of  the  invention ;  there  is  quite  a  differ 
ence  between  the  invention  of  the  machinery  and 
the  appliance  of  the  necessary  means  to  put  that 
machinery  to  its  designed  work.  The  one  is  the  work 
of  genius,  the  other  of  money  and  mechanical  skill  ; 
genius  works  out  the  invention  and  gives  the  formula 
descriptive  of  it,  while  the  mechanic  takes  up  the  for 
mula  and  with  proper  aid  puts  the  invention  to  its 


132         NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

designed  use.  Should  the  honor  of  the  invention  be 
transferred  to  the  mechanic  because  he  was  the  first 
to  put  the  machinery  to  practical  use  ?  Such  was 
substantially  the  case  of  Fulton  in  his  building  the 
first  successful  steamboat.  He  really  invented  no 
essential  part  of  it,  but  skillfully  put  together  the  in 
ventions  of  others.  He  had  the  means  placed  at  his 
command,  or  he  could  not  even  have  done  this.  He 
had  nothing  to  discourage,  but  everything  to  encour 
age  him.  Fortune,  power,  and  influence,  stood  at  his 
right  hand  ready  to  back  him  up  and  sustain  him.  He 
was  employed  by  Livingston,  the  possessor  of  all  these 
facilities,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  inventions  of  others 
to  carry  out  a  scheme  of  great  magnitude  for  their  own 
joint  profit  and  aggrandizement.  Were  it  not  for  this 
the  first  successful  steamboat  might  not  yet  have  been 
completed,  and  Fulton,  — 

"  In  life's  low  vale  remote  had  pined  alone, 
Then  dropt  into  the  grave  unpitied  and  unknown." 

Robert  Fulton,  who  stands  so  prominent  in  the  his 
tory  of  steam  navigation,  was  born  in  Little  Britain, 
Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  in  1765.  His  parents 
were  of  Irish  descent ;  his  father,  who  emigrated  from 
Ireland,  was  in  low  circumstances,  and  gave  but  small 
opportunity  to  his  children.  He  died  in  1768,  when 
his  son  Robert  was  but  three  years  of  age,  who  un 
der  the  good  endeavors  of  his  mother  acquired  a  fair 
common-school  education.  He  had  a  taste  for  study, 
and  a  mind  ever  active  in  the  pursuit  of  some  favorite 
project ;  and  was  in  fact,  the  builder  of  his  own  quali 
fications  for  the  work  he  pursued  at  different  periods 
of  his  life,  —  a  matter  so  common  and  so  highly  com- 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        133 

mendable  among  the  youth  of  our  country.  His  early 
predominant  passion  was  for  drawing  and  mechanics  ; 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
and  engaged  in  painting  portraits  and  landscape  views, 
from  which  he  earned  a  fair  support,  and  acquired  a 
small  amount  of  property.  He  resided  here  until  he 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age  (1786),  and  then  went 
with  his  mother  to  Washington  County,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  purchased  a  small  farm  for  her  as  a  home. 
The  same  year  he  went  to  England,  and  engaged  in  the 
office  of  West,  the  great  American  artist,  as  a  journey 
man  painter,  where  he  remained  for  several  years. 

After  leaving  West,  he  spent  two  years  in  Devon 
shire  occupied  as  a  painter.  After  this,  he  resided  a 
year  and  a  half  in  Birmingham,  where  he  first  acquired 
some  practical  knowledge  of  mechanics,  and  obtained, 
in  1794,  a  patent  in  England  for  a  double  inclined  plane 
to  be  used  for  transportation  ;  and  about  the  same  time 
made  an  improvement  in  mills  for  grinding  plaster  and 
sawing  marble ;  also  in  machinery  for  spinning  flax 
and  making  ropes,  and  constructed  a  machine  for  ex 
cavating  canals. 

In  1796  he  published  a  work  on  canal  navigation, 
in  which  he  proposed  the  use  of  the  inclined  plane 
to  pass  boats  over  ravines  and  elevated  points.  He 
now  for  the  first  time  set  himself  up  as  a  civil  en 
gineer,  and  relinquished  his  profession  as  a  painter. 
The  next  year,  1797,  he  is  found  in  France,  making 
efforts  to  introduce  his  canal  system  there  ;  but  soon 
turned  his  attention  to  the  purpose  of  inventing  a 
submarine  machine  for  blowing  up  vessels  of  war. 
He  was  at  work  at  this  invention,  under  the  patron- 


134        NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

age  of  the  French  government,  until  1801,  during 
which  year  he  went  through  with  a  course  of  ex 
periments  in  the  harbor  of  Brest,  with  his  machine, 
or  explosive  submarine  battery  ;  but  not  succeeding 
in  destroying  any  of  the  enemy's  vessels  (the  Eng 
lish)  then  blockading  the  harbor,  the  government  of 
France  withdrew  its  patronage  from  him  ;  and  being 
without  any  employment  there,  he  resolved  to  leave 
France  and  return  to  England.  Before  doing  this, 
however,  Robert  R.  Livingston  arrived  as  Ambassador 
from  the  United  States  to  the  Consular  Government 
of  France,  and  Fulton  being  a  countryman  of  his,  and 
possessing  views  adapted  in  some  measure  to  the  en 
terprising  schemes  of  Livingston,  they  soon  met  and 
made  an  acquaintance. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Livingston  in  France, 
which  was  in  1801,  it  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Fulton 
had  given  the  subject  of  steam  navigation  any  special 
attention,  farther  than  what  had  entered  into  the 
thoughts  of  other  mechanics  and  speculative  men  of 
the  day,  —  a  mere  topic  of  thought  and  talk.  In  a 
letter  to  Lord  Stanhope,  who  was  interesting  himself 
somewhat  on  the  subject,  in  1793,  he  speaks  of  steam 
navigation  ;  but  what  he  said  to  Lord  Stanhope  cfoes 
not  appear,  as  the  letter  has  never  been  published. 
He  also  visited  Symington's  boat,  which  the  latter  con 
structed  for  Lord  Dundas  upon  the  Forth  and  Clyde 
Canal,  in  1804  ;  but  this  was  long  after  his  acquaint 
ance  with  Mr.  Livingston,  and  after  he  had  tried  his 
experiments  at  Paris,  and  ordered  his  engine. 

Livingston  says,  at  Paris  :  — 

"  He  communicated  to    Mr.  Fulton    the    importance  of 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        135 

steamboats  to  their  common  country ;  informed  him  of  what 
had  been  attempted  in  America,  and  of  his  resolution  to  re 
sume  the  pursuit  on  his  return  ;  and  advised  him  to  turn  his 
attention  to  the  subject."  1 

This  shows  that  Fulton  had  not  given  his  thoughts 
to  the  subject  before  that  time  (1801)  with  any  seri 
ous  intent,  which  was  twelve  years  after  Read  had 
completed  his  inventions,  and  tried  his  boat  with  pad 
dle-wheels  at  Danvers. 

Chancellor  Livingston,  who  was  an  eminent  states 
man  and  civilian,  also  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
introduction  of  steam  navigation.  And  before  we  pro 
ceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  experiments  made  by- 
Fulton  under  his  patronage,  we  will  take  a  concise 
view  of  what  Livingston  himself  had  done  before 
meeting  with  Fulton  at  Paris.  Livingston  laid  no 
claims  to  invention  or  inventive  genius  himself,  but 
he  possessed  that  enthusiastic  spirit  on  the  subject  of 
steam  navigation,  which  was  liable  to  be  awakened  by 
the  belief,  that  it  would  become  a  source  of  great 
wealth  to  whomsoever  should  successfully  put  it  in  op 
eration,  and  succeed  in  securing  its  exclusive  use  and 
emolument.  Ocean  navigation  was  not  contemplated  ; 
and  in  order  to  make  river  navigation  a  source  of  pri 
vate  wealth  —  of  such  gigantic  proportions  as  had  en 
tered  into  the  mind  of  this  enterprising  millionaire,  — 
a  monopoly  over  the  inland  navigation  of  the  country 
became  necessary  as  a  part  of  the  plan  he  had  in  view, 
for  carrying  out  the  grand  purpose  that  lay  before  him. 

He  was  liberal  with  his  means  ;  and  in  this  instance 
believed  their  application  promised  great  public  advan- 

1  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  148. 


136       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

tage,  as  well  as  liberal  returns  for  his  capital.  He, 
moreover,  was  a  distinguished  jurist,  and  well  under 
stood  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  chartered 
rights,  concentrated  in  a  single  individual,  to  the  exclu 
sion  of  a  common  and  public  use ;  but  it  seems  that 
he  then  did  not  fully  comprehend  the  powers  that  lay 
between  a  State  and  the  General  Government  over  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  country. 

Livingston  made  his  first  essay  in  1797,  and  in  con 
nection  with  Mr.  Nesbit,  engaged  in  the  construction 
of  a  boat  upon  the  Hudson  River.  They  employed 
Brunei  —  who  became  distinguished  as  the  inventor 
of  the  block-machine,  and  the  builder  of  the  Thames 
Tunnel  —  to  take  the  charge  of  the  mechanical  con 
struction  of  the  boat.  Livingston  in  the  mean  time, 
having  full  confidence  of  success,  applied  to  the  Leg 
islature  of  New  York  for  an  act  giving  him  the  ex 
clusive  right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  New  York  with 
boats  propelled  by  fire  and  steam.  To  accomplish  that 
end  it  became  necessary  to  remove  Fitch's  previous 
grant,  obtained  for  the  same  purpose.  He  therefore 
petitioned  the  legislature  to  repeal  Fitch's  act  under 
the  pretense  that  Fitch  "  was  either  dead  or  had  with 
drawn  from  the  State,  without  having  made  any  at 
tempt,  in  the  space  of  more  than  ten  years,  for  ex 
ecuting  the  plan  for  which  he  had  so  obtained  an 
exclusive  privilege,  whereby,"  it  alleges,  "  the  same 
had  been  justly  forfeited."  l 

The  legislature,  upon  these  representations,  in 
March,  1798,  repealed  the  act  of  Fitch,  and  transferred 
to  Livingston,  for  twenty  years,  the  rights  it  covered, 

1  New  York  Review,  No.  7,  p.  149. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        137 

provided  "  he  should  within  twelve  months  give  proof 
of  having  built  a  boat  of  at  least  twenty  tons'  capacity, 
to  be  propelled  by  steam,  the  mean  of  whose  progress 
through  the  water  with  and  against  the  ordinary  cur 
rent  of  the  Hudson  River,  should  not  be  less  than  four 
miles  an  hour ;  and  that  he  should  at  no  time  omit  for 
the  space  of  one  year  to  have  a  boat  of  such  con 
struction  plying  between  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Albany."  1 

The  boat  Livingston  and  Nesbit  constructed  did  not 
meet  the  conditions  of  the  law  and  was  abandoned,2  as 
the  boat  was  unable  to  move  at  a  speed  beyond  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  an  hour,  consequently  the  act 
became  forfeited ;  but  Livingston  procured  a  revival  of 
it  for  a  further  trial.  Stevens,  as  has  been  noticed,  was 
all  this  time  trying  experiments  with  a  view  to  the  con 
struction  of  a  boat,  directing  his  attention,  however,  for 
the  most  part  to  the  workmanship  and  manufacture  of 
machinery  for  the  purpose,  but  had  as  yet  not  suc 
ceeded  in  building  one.  To  unite  their  efforts,  and 
bring  together  a  stronger  force  in  the  work,  Livingston 
and  Stevens  and  Nicholas  J.  Rosevelt,  entered  into  a 
copartnership  in  1800,  to  pursue  the  object  jointly, 
and  commenced  a  boat.  Their  proceedings,  however, 
were  interrupted  and  the  partnership  broken  up,  by  the 
appointment  soon  after  of  Livingston  as  Minister  to 
France  ;  but  Stevens  pursued  his  experiments  alone 
at  Hoboken.  completed  the  boat  before  mentioned, 
which  he  tried  with  the  chain-wheel  invented  by  Read ; 
and  Livingston  "  carried  to  Europe  high-raised  expec- 

1  New  York  Review,  No.  7,  p.  150.       2  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  146. 


138        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.   ' 

tations  of  success."  l      Professor  Renwick,  in  speaking 
of  their  propelling  apparatus,  says  :  — 

"  Their  apparatus  was  a  system  of  paddles  resembling  a 
horizontal  chain-pump,  and  set  in  motion  by  an  engine  of 
Watt's  construction.  We  now  know  that  such  a  plan,  if  in 
ferior  to  paddle-wheels,  might  answer  the  purpose  ;  it  how 
ever  failed  in  consequence  of  the  weakness  of  the  vessel, 
which  changed  its  figure  and  dislocated  parts  of  the  engine." 

From  the  above,  it  appears  that  they  followed  the 
plan  of  propulsion  Read  had  patented,  precisely ;  and 
with  it  Livingston  went  to  Europe  with  his  high  ex 
pectations  of  success ;  taking  with  him  a  full  knowl 
edge  of  this,  and  doubtless  of  the  other  inventions  of 
Read  also. 

Rosevelt,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  partnership 
on  the  occasion  of  Livingston's  mission  to  France, 
acted  independent  of  both  Livingston  and  Stevens, 
and  turned  his  attention  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi, 
as  the  field  of  his  steamboat  operations.  In  1811  he 
built  the  first  steamboat  on  those  waters,  and  in  her 
passage  from  Pittsburg  to  New  Orleans  she  had  a 
most  wonderful  experience  and  escape.2 

1  Ken  wick,  p.  284. 

2  For  an  account  of  this  adventurous  passage,  see  Appendix,  No.  2. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

WE  will  now  return  to  the  experiments  of  Liv 
ingston  and  Fulton  in  France.  Livingston  having  be 
sought  Fulton  to  turn  his  attention  to  steam  navigation, 
it  was  arranged  that  Fulton  should  enter  upon  a  series 
of  experiments  on  the  subject. 

"  Fulton  suggested  that  it  would  not  do  to  trust  to  the 
mere  ingenuity  or  theoretic  skill  of  either  of  them,  but  that 
it  was  indispensable  that  experiments  should  be  carefully 
made,  upon  all  the  methods  of  any  promise  which  had  been 
proposed  up  to  that  time,  or  which  had  occurred  to  Living 
ston  or  himself." 1 

He  first  went  into  a  course  of  mathematical  calcu 
lations  to  determine  the  resistance  of  water,  the  force 
to  be  applied  to  bodies  moving  through  it,  the  best 
form  of  a  vessel  for  easy  movement,  "  and  upon  the 
different  means  of  propelling  vessels  which  had  been 
previously  attempted."2 

He  applied  his  mathematics  to  paddles,  oars,  setting- 
poles,  duck's-feet,  pump  and  trunk  for  drawing  in  and 
ejecting  water,  paddle-wheels,  and  system  of  paddles 
resembling  a  horizontal  chain-pump  ;  he  without  trial 
rejected  all  as  impracticable,  except  the  two  last ;  3  and 
it  is  singular  enough,  that  he,  first  of  all,  favored  the 
use  of  the  last  —  the  system  of  paddles  resembling  a 

1  New  York  Review,  p.  100. 

3  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  pp.  153,  154. 


140        NATHAN  READ  AND  TEE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

horizontal  chain-pump,  —  which  was  patented  by  Read, 
and  which  was  applied  to  the  boat  that  Livingston 
had  just  before  left  in  progress  of  construction  in  New 
York. 

Having  decided  upon  trying  this,  as  he  then  thought 
the  preferable  mode  of  propulsion,  he  constructed  a 
small  boat,  in  1802,  and  tried  his  first  experiment  at 
Plombieres,  where  he  was  temporarily  residing.  After 
trying  his  boat,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Livingston  at  Paris, 
giving  him  a  minute  account  of  his  experiment  with 
his  system  of  paddles  or  chain-wheel,  "  and  assured 
him  of  the  certainty  of  success  which  they  afforded 
him." l  Mr.  Golden  treats  this  mode  of  propulsion 
as  if  it  were  an  original  invention  of  Fulton  ;  and  in 
relation  to  the  subject  he  adds  :  — 

"The  ingenuity  of  the  little  working  models  which  he 
employed  on  this  occasion,  the  simplicity  of  his  contrivances, 
his  calculations  and  demonstrations,  are  all  evidence  of  his 
genius,  his  science,  and  his  practical  knowledge.  Among  the 
manuscripts  he  has  left  are  diagrams,  drawings,  calculations, 
and  notes,  which  fully  explain  everything  connected  with 
this  course  of  interesting  experiments.  It  would  be  greatly 
to  be  regretted,  not  only  in  regard  to  his  fame,  but  as  respects 
the  arts,  if  they  should  not  be  given  to  the  world  in  proper 
form." 2 

It  is  truly  to  be  regretted,  that  the  arts  have  not 
as  yet  been  benefited  by  a  publication  of  these  dia 
grams  and  drawings ;  but  Fulton's  fame  has  not  been 
injured  in  consequence,  for  by  comparing  them  with 
the  diagrams  and  drawings  of  Read,  their  analogy 
would  at  once  appear. 

l  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  155.  2  Ibid.  pp.  155, 156. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        141 

After  the  above  experiments  at  Plombieres,  it  was 
decided  to  give  a  trial  to  paddle-wheels.  In  the 
winter  following  he  applied  them  to  a  small  working 
model,  tried  various  experiments,  and  renewed  his  cal 
culations  respecting  them  ;  after  which  Fulton,  in  a 
letter  to  his  friend,  remarks,  "  by  very  exact  experi 
ments  I  have  proved  that  the  wheel  is  superior  to 
the  chaplet,"  l  i.  e.  resisting  boards  with  endless  chain. 
Thereupon  they  determined  to  construct  a  boat  of 
some  size  (eight  feet  wide  and  sixty-six  feet  in  length) 
for  experiment  upon  the  Seine,  and  to  apply  paddle- 
wheels  as  the  mode  of  propulsion.  This  boat  was 
completed  in  the  spring  of  1803,  but  owing  to  an 
accident  by  which  it  became  necessary  to  repair  the 
hull,  it  was  not  tried  until  August  following.  It  was 
then  tried  in  the  presence  of  the  members  of  the  French 
National  Institute,  who  were  invited  to  be  present,  and 
of  a  great  concourse  of  people  who  assembled  to  wit 
ness  the  experiment. 

The  experiments  with  this  boat  showed  satisfac 
torily  that  paddle-wheels  were  preferable  to  any  other 
mode  of  propulsion  ;  and  although  the  boat  was  not 
so  fast  in  its  movements  as  had  been  hoped,  it  was 
evident  that  the  same  machinery,  if  of  more  perfect 
finish,  would  greatly  facilitate  its  motion ;  and  it  be 
came  a  safe  calculation  to  allow,  that  a  working-boat 
constructed  after  the  plan  and  model  of  this,  would 
prove  reliable  and  successful  for  the  purposes  of  steam 
navigation.  Indeed,  they  looked  upon  the  subject  with 
such  confidence  that  Livingston  entered  into  proposals 
to  Fulton,  to  join  him  in  the  construction  of  boats  upon 
the  Hudson  River  ;  which  he  then  did. 

1  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  158. 


142        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Thereupon  Fulton,  August  6,  1803,  wrote  to 
Boulton  &  Watt  of  Birmingham,  "  ordering  certain 
parts  of  a  steam-engine  to  be  made  for  him  and  sent 
to  America."  *  And  Livingston  wrote  home  to  his 
friends  in  New  York,  to  procure  an  act,  extending 
to  him  and  Fulton  together,  for  the  term  of  twenty 
years,  the  same  rights  which  had  been  granted  to  him 
by  the  act  of  1798,  but  which  had  now  become  for 
feited.  The  legislature  allowed  the  application,  and 
an  act  was  accordingly  passed,  by  which  the  exclu 
sive  right  of  navigating  the  waters  of  New  York  was 
granted  to  Livingston  and  Fulton  jointly.2 

Before  Fulton  returned  to  the  United  States,  he 
visited  the  shop  of  Boulton  &  Watt  at  Birmingham, 
in  1804,  and  furnished  them  with  plans  and  drawings 
of  those  several  parts  of  the  engine  which  he  had,  on 
the  6th  of  August,  1803,  ordered  them  to  furnish ; 
and  gave  them  directions  respecting  them.  He  or 
dered  only  those  parts  which  would  be  required  to 
construct  an  engine  of  a  peculiar  kind ;  and  it  will 
be  seen,  that  his  order  followed  the  essential  parts  of 
Read's  machinery,  which  so  modified  the  engine  of 
Watt  as  to  render  it  light  and  portable. 

In  the  letters  which  Fulton  had  previously  written 
to  Boulton  &  Watt,  "he  made  inquiries  as  to  the 
employment  of  high  degrees  of  heat  in  small  engines, 
and  the  limit  to  which  it  might  be  carried  in  order  to 
render  them  light  and  compact."  3  He  then  explained 

1  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  165. 

2  This  grant  to  Livingston  &  Fulton  was  not  made  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  the  inventors  of  the  steamboat;  but  on  the  ground  merely  "  that 
they  were  the  possessors  of  a  mode  of  propelling  boats  by  steam  upon  new 
and  advantageous  principles."  —  New  York  Review,  No.  7,  p.  150. 

3  Life  of  Watt,  p.  333. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        143 

to  them  that  his  object  in  ordering  the  sort  of  machinery 
he  had,  was  to  reduce  the  heft  of  the  steam-engine  as 
much  as  possible,  for  the  purpose  of  applying  it  to  a 
boat  to  run  on  the  rivers  in  America.  He  says,  "  The 
only  thing  which  is  wanting  is  to  arrange  the  engine  as 
light  and  compact  as  possible." l  And  in  a  postscript 
to  one  of  his  letters,  he  speaks  of  engines  which  had 
been  proposed  to  him  by  Mr.  Livingston. 

Fulton's  visit  to  England  in  1804,  was,  however, 
but  partially  induced  by  his  intention  of  procuring 
machinery  for  his  steam-engine,  —  this  was  but  a  sec 
ondary  purpose  with  him ;  and  although  he  had  tried 
his  steamboat  experiments  in  France  at  the  solicitation 
of  Mr.  Livingston,  his  great  theme,  and  study,  and 
purpose,  was  to  invent  his  torpedo  submarine  boat  for 
destroying  vessels  of  war.  The  patronage  of  the  gov 
ernment  of  France  having  been  withdrawn  from  him, 
he  still  pursued  his  purpose  in  this  matter,  and  made 
overtures  to  the  British  government,  proposing  to 
grant  to  them  the  benefit  of  his  invention  or  project. 
The  British  minister  made  an  arrangement  with  Mr. 
Fulton  to  secure  his  infernal  machine  and  services, 
more  to  deprive  France  of  them,  and  to  keep  them 
from  threatening  their  own  vessels,  than  from  any  ex 
pectation  or  belief  that  they  would,  be  of  any  impor 
tance  otherwise.  It  was  on  this  account  that  Fulton 
proceeded  to  London  in  May,  1804. 

The  policy  of  the  British  government  —  being  herself 
then  mistress  of  the  seas,  and  having  more  vessels  of 
war  afloat  than  all  other  nations  united  —  was  to  sup 
press  his  machine  instead  of  using  it.  Hence  they 

l  Life  of  Watt,  p.  334. 


144        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

constantly  baffled  him  in  his  attempts  to  test  the  effects 
of  it,  and  took  occasion,  as  far  as  lay  within  the 
scope  of  ostensible  fairness,  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
machine  was  a  visionary  affair.  Most  of  his  experi 
ments  thus  turned  out  to  be  failures  ;  he  remained  in 
England  and  kept  at  work,  without  any  success  or 
encouragement  except  his  pay  (and  that  for  the  last 
part  withheld),  for  two  years  or  more.  In  October, 
1805,  however,  he  succeeded  in  blowing  up  a  Danish 
brig  of  two  hundred  tons,  which  had  been  provided 
for  the  experiment,  and  which  was  anchored  in  Wai- 
mar  Roads,  near  the  residence  of  Mr.  Pitt.  The  tor 
pedo  on  this  occasion  contained  one  hundred  and 
seventy  pounds  of  powder ;  and  in  fifteen  minutes 
from  the  time  of  starting  the  machinery  and  throwing 
the  torpedo  into  the  water,  the  explosion  took  place. 
"  It  lifted  the  brig  almost  entire,  and  broke  her  com 
pletely  in  two.  The  ends  sunk  immediately,  and  in 
one  minute  nothing  was  to  be  seen  of  her  but  floating 
fragments.  In  fact  her  annihilation  was  complete."1 

The  above  matter  is  related  not  only  to  show  that 
Fulton  remained  in  England  for  some  time,  even  after 
his  engine  had  been  sent  over  by  Boulton  &  Watt 
to  New  York,  but  that  his  mind  was  more  engrossed 
by  his  torpedo  war,  than  by  his  steamboat.  And  such 
in  fact  was  the  case  with  him  not  only  in  Europe  but 
in  America  after  his  return ;  making  it,  notwithstand 
ing  his  boat,  the  prominent  purpose  before  him  here. 
Failing  to  accomplish  his  desired  purpose  in  England, 
and  worn  out  by  a  long  and  much  neglected  series  of 
experiments  with  his  explosive  machine,  his  pay  finally 

i  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  59. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        145 

all  withheld,  and  everything  ending  in  dissappointment 
and  disgust,  he  at  length  returned  to  New  York,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  13th  of  December,  1806.1 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  to  the  United 
States,  he  applied  to  our  government  to  assist  him  in 
prosecuting  his  experiments  with  his  torpedoes.  Some 
assistance  was  rendered,  and  experiments  tried  at 
Governor's  Island  ;  and  in  July,  1807,  —  being  but  a 
few  weeks  before  his  steamboat  took  her  first  trip  up 
the  Hudson,  —  he  blew  up  a  large  vessel,  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York,  "  which  had  been  provided  for  the  pur 
pose."2  Indeed,  he  continued  these  experiments  with 
great  earnestness,  but  without  any  great  success, 
more  or  less,  up  to  1810,  when,  under  the  prospect 
of  a  rupture  with  Great  Britain,  he  renewed  his 
application  to  the  General  Government  for  aid  in  the 
matter ;  "  and  soon  after  this  published  his  work  en 
titled  (  Torpedo  War  ;  or,  Submarine  Explosions.'  "  3 

The  government,  under  the  prospect  of  war,  ex 
tended  additional  aid  to  Mr.  Fulton,  and  experiments 
were  made  upon  an  enlarged  scale.  The  sloop-of-war 
Argus,  under  the  direction  of  Commodore  Rogers,  was 
placed  in  a  posture  of  defense  against  the  torpedoes  ; 
and  in  spite  of  the  attacks  of  Fulton,  successfully  de 
fended  herself  against  any  injury  from  his  boasted 
instruments  of  destruction.  The  Committee  appointed 
by  Congress  to  examine  the  experiments  and  make 
report,  reported  unfavorably  upon  the  project  as  a 

1  This  same  rear,  Mr.  Fulton  was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  Livingston, 
a  relative  of  the  Chancellor. 

2  Golden' s  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  76. 
8  Ibid.  p.  83. 

10 


146        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

means  of  defense;  and  Commodore  Rogers  gave  his 
opinion  "  entirely  against  Mr.  Fulton's  system ;  and  he 
concludes  that  every  part  of  it  would  be  found  wholly 
impracticable."  It  is  due,  however,  to  Mr.  Fulton  to 
say  that  Mr.  Livingston  and  Mr.  Golden  (the  latter 
his  attorney  and  subsequent  biographer),  who  were  of 
the  Committee,  reported  favorably.  The  report  of  the 
Committee,  i.  e.  the  majority,  being  against  the  utility 
of  the  plan,  as  a  matter  not  worthy  the  further  atten 
tion  of  the  government,  his  hope  of  introducing  this 
favorite  scheme  of  his  became  vain ;  yet  his  mind  was 
occupied  with  the  subject  during  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ON  Fulton's  return  to  the  city  of  New  York 
from  England,  he  also,  in  connection  with  his  tor 
pedo  war,  commenced  his  steamboat.  Stevens,  hav 
ing  failed  in  his  former  experiments,  and  now  learning 
that  Livingston,  his  former  partner,  had  associated 
himself  with  Fulton  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  hoat 
upon  the  Hudson,  resolved  not  to  be  outdone ;  and 
although  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  the  expenditure  of  a 
good  share  of  his  fortune,  had  come  over  him  during 
his  protracted  experiments,  he  now  renewed  his  ener 
gies,  and  simultaneously  with  Fulton,  commenced  the 
construction  of  another  boat.  And  indeed  it  was  but 
a  few  days  after  Fulton  made  his  first  trip  to  Albany, 
before  Stevens  also  had  his  boat  in  operation.1  It  may 
be  well  here  to  notice  that  Col.  John  C.  Stevens  and 
Robert  L.  Stevens,  the  sons  of  John  Stevens,  now 
took  the  active  lead  in  their  father's  business,  and 
prosecuted  the  design  which  he  had  so  long  sought 
for  in  vain, — a  successful  steam  navigation.  And 
with  the  experience  of  the  father  to  teach  them  how 
to  escape  from  past  errors,  and  the  youthful  energies 
and  mechanical  skill  they  possessed  themselves,  to  give 
a  fresh  impulse  to  the  subject,  they  commenced  the 
construction  of  the  Phoenix^  which  afterwards  became 

*  New  York  Review,  No.  5,  p.  103. 


148        NATHAN  READ  AND    TEE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

so  distinguished  in  the  early  history  of  steam  naviga 
tion.  It  was  built  with  paddle-wheels  at  the  sides.1 

Part  of  the  machinery  which  Fulton  had  ordered 
from  Boulton  &  Watt  arrived  in  New  York  in  1805, 
and  the  residue  in  1806  ;  and  it  lay  in  store  until 
Fulton  returned  and  got  his  craft  in  readiness  to 
receive  it  in  1807. 

Livingston  returned  to  New  York  whilst  the  boat  was 
in  process  of  construction,  and  in  the  spring  of  1807  the 
vessel  "  was  launched  from  the  ship-yard  of  Charles 
Brown,  on  the  East  River,"2  and  called  the  Clermont 
—  after  the  name  of  the  private  residence  of  Mr.  Liv 
ingston  on  the  Hudson  River,  above  Hyde  Park.  In 
August,  Mr.  Fulton  made  his  first  trip  to  Albany  and 
back,  at  an  average  speed  of  about  five  miles  an  hour. 
His  water-wheels  were  hung  upon  the  ends  of  the 
shaft,  without  anything  beyond  the  gunwales  of  the 
boat  to  support  them  ;  and  they  were  not  covered 
with  a  wheel-house  or  guards.  The  speed  of  the  boat 
answered  the  requirements  of  the  previous  acts  of  the 
Legislature  of  New  York,  which  at  its  next  session 
passed  another  act,  extending  to  Livingston  &  Fulton, 
in  addition  to  the  former  grant,  five  years  for  each 
boat  they  should  thereafter  build,  not  to  exceed  in  any 
case  the  term  of  thirty  years ;  and  by  the  same  act 


1  The  PhcRnix  was  completed  but  a  few  days  after  Fulton's  boat;  but  by 
Livingston  &  Fulton's  exclusive  right  was  driven  from  the  navigation  of  the 
Hudson,  and  Robert  L.  Stevens  adopted  the  bold  plan  of  taking  her,  by  sea 
and  the  capes  of  the  Delaware,  around  to  Philadelphia;  which  was  safely 
done,  in  the  face  of  a  severe  storm,  in  the  month  of  June,  1808.  Young 
Stevens,  then,  acquired  the  honor  of  making  the  first  ocean  voyage  in  a 
steamboat. 

a  Life,  of  Fulton,  p.  167. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        149 

made  it  a  penal  offense  for  any  one  to  interfere  with 
the  monopoly  or  exclusive  rights  granted  to  these 
parties. 

The  Clermont  immediately  commenced  to  run  as  a 
passenger  boat  between  New  York  and  Albany ;  and 
in  the  mean  time,  to  meet  the  demands  for  freight  and 
public  travel,  they  proceeded  to  build  several  other 
boats,  which  they  put  upon  the  river,  and  for  some 
years  held  the  sole  and  exclusive  enjoyment  of  its 
waters.  This  prosperous  state  of  affairs,  however,  was 
destined  to  be  of  no  long  continuance  with  them. 
The  State  of  New  Jersey  did  not  recognize  the  valid 
ity  of  the  New  York  statutes,  at  least  so  far  as  its 
own  waters  of  the  Hudson  were  concerned,  and  by 
way  of  retaliation  it  granted  similar  rights  to  its  own 
citizens ;  and  excluded  all  steamboats,  running  under 
the  authority  of  New  York,  from  coming  within  her 
jurisdiction. 

This  placed  the  matter  in  the  category,  that  the 
New  York  steamers  could  not  cross  to  the  Jersey 
shore,  nor  the  Jersey  steamers  to  the  city  of  New 
York.  This  aspect  of  the  case  began  to  open  the 
eyes  of  the  people  of  New  York  to  the  nature  of  the 
monopoly  which  had  been  granted  to  Livingston  & 
Fulton,  and  a  reaction  in  public  sentiment  on  the  sub 
ject  commenced.  Others,  moreover,  were  desirous  of 
placing  boats  upon  the  Hudson  and  sharing  in  the  prof 
its  of  the  business  ;  while  the  commercial  interests  of 
New  York  city  and  the  surrounding  country  demanded 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Hudson  and  adjacent  waters 
of  the  Sound  and  Bay  of  New  York,  to  be  flung  open 
to  unrestricted  intercourse,  to  all  such  as  chose  to  use 


150        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

them.  Thus  the  validity  of  the  grant  to  Livingston 
&  Fulton  was  questioned,  denying  the  power  of  the 
legislature  to  make  it ;  and  relying  upon  the  opinions 
of  eminent  counsel  to  that  effect,  a  company  was  formed 
in  Albany,  in  1810,  who  put  another  line  of  steamers 
on  the  river  in  opposition  to  the  previous  grants. 
This  brought  the  matter  to  a  crisis.  Livingston  & 
Fulton  filed  their  bill  in  Chancery,  for  a  perpetual 
injunction  against  the  Albany  Company,  before  Chan 
cellor  Lansing.  The  prayer  of  the  petitioners  was 
denied,  on  the  ground  that  the  State  grants  were  in 
valid,  "  being  repugnant  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  against  common  right."  This  de 
cree,  however,  was  reversed  by  the  Court  of  Errors 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  ground  that  the 
State  Legislature  possessed  a  concurrent  power  with  the 
General  Government,  but  subordinate  to  it,  in  case  any 
actual  collision  between  the  two  powers  should  arise. 
But  the  Court  denied  that  "  any  interference  had  been 
shown  (by  the  Albany  Company)  between  the  State 
laws  and  the  constitutional  powers  of  Congress  to  regu 
late  commerce."  Hence,  on  this  mere  subterfuge,  they 
set  aside  the  decision  of  the  Chancellor ;  but  at  the 
same  time  advanced  the  opinion,  "  that  a  patent  right, 
granted  by  Congress,  in  case  of  a  conflict,  would  pre 
vail  against  the  State  grants  ; "  as  "  the  laws  of  Con 
gress  are  paramount  and  must  prevail." 

This  intimation  alarmed  Livingston  &  Fulton,  for 
neither  of  them  claimed  or  pretended  to  any  patent 
right  in  their  boats,  or  to  any  part  of  the  machinery  ; 
nor  did  they  claim  any  "  coasting  license  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States."  l  In  this  dilemma, 
i  New  York  Review,  vol.  iv.  p.  151. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       151 

application  was  immediately  made  to  Congress,  in 
the  name  of  Fulton,  for  a  patent  for  paddle-wheels 
and  other  parts  of  the  machinery,  supposing  if  he 
could  secure  these  by  patent,  that  no  one  else  could 
run  boats  against  him,  as  they  were  necessary  in  his 
view  to  success  ;  and  that  a  patent  of  this  machinery 
would  substantially  give  the  exclusive  navigation  to 
him  and  Livingston,  not  only  of  the  Hudson,  but 
elsewhere  within  the  waters  of  the  United  States. 
His  application  was  allowed,  and  a  patent  was  granted 
to  Fulton  under  date  of  February  9, 1811,  more  than 
twenty  years  from  Read's  experiment  with  paddle- 
wheels  at  Danvers,  and  just  twenty  years  into  a  day 
after  he  filed  his  petition  for  a  patent  for  them  in  Con 
gress.1  Fortified  in  their  position,  as  they  believed, 
by  the  above  patents,  Livingston  &  Fulton  now  pro 
ceeded  with  their  plans  with  renewed  confidence ; 
constructed  new  boats  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  brought 
the  Albany  Company  to  terms,  by  allowing  them  the 
waters  of  Lake  Champlain,  "as  their  domain."2 
There  now  appeared  to  be  nothing  in  the  way  of  a 
vast  fortune  before  them,  as  their  returns  and  profits 
were  great,  and  the  advantages  they  had  secured  gave 
every  promise  of  their  being  still  greater  ;  indeed,  no 
one  attempted  to  estimate  the  value  of  their  business 
in  prospect.  And  they  were  the  more  fortified  in 
their  position  by  obtaining  a  still  further  act  from  the 
Legislature  of  New  York,  imposing  additional  penal 
ties  for  any  invasion  of  their  rights,  and  depriving  the 

1  Livingston  the  next  year,  June  13, 1812,  took  out  a  patent  in  his  name 
also,  for  propelling  boats  with  paddles  and  chain-wheels,  to  give  them  ad 
ditional  security  in  their  monopoly.     See  List  of  Patents,  p.  174. 

2  New  York  Review,  vol.  iv.  p.  152. 


152        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

Court  of  Chancery  of  all  judicial  discretion  as  to  the 
granting  of  any  injunction  against  them.1 

This  high-toned  and  arbitrary  exercise  of  legislative 
power  actually  placed  the  matter  without  the  pale  of 
the  courts  of  justice,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  law; 
and  for  a  time  all  opposition  seemed  to  be  crushed  and 
put  to  its  final  rest.  But  the  citizens  of  New  Jersey 
were  not  content  to  have  their  boats  forfeited,  as  the 
last  New  York  laws  provided,  and  insisted  upon  run 
ning  them  from  their  own  shores  across  the  Hudson  to 
the  city  of  New  York.  They  claimed  a  common  in 
terest  in  the  waters,  at  least,  so  far  as  their  own  territory 
was  bounded  upon  them,  and  they  refused  to  pay  any 
respect,  or  give  any  heed  to  the  New  York  Statutes ; 
that  they  were  a  free  people,  and  would  never  consent 
to  pay  tribute  to  Livingston  &  Fulton.  Colonel  Aaron 
Ogden  was  then  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  ; 
and  as  a  pacific  mode  of  disposing  of  the  matter,  he 
petitioned  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  to 
remove  the  restriction  which  had  been  imposed  upon 
their  courts,  which  prevented  an  approach  to  the  or 
dinary  tribunals  of  justice  for  redress,  and  demanded 
the  privilege  of  placing  a  steamer,  for  public  accom 
modation  and  the  preservation  of  his  own  property, 
upon  an  ancient  ferry  he  owned,  between  Elizabeth- 
town  Point  and  the  city  of  New  York. 

William  Duer,2  whose  pen  afterwards  so  effectually 
exposed  the  character  of  this  monopoly,  and  the  means 
used  by  Livingston  &  Fulton  to  obtain  it,3  was  a  mem- 

1  New  York  Review,  vol.  iv.  p.  152. 

2  Afterwards  President  of  Columbia  College,  N.  Y. 

»  See  Duer's  first  and  second  letters  to  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  1817. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       153 

ber  of  the  committee  to  whom  the  memorial  of  Colonel 
Ogden  was  referred.  The  committee  reported  in  sub 
stance,  that  after  the  expiration  of  Fitch's  patent,  "  the 
right  to  use  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  became  common 
to  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  "  that  it  was 
questionable,  whether  a  State  had  the  power  to  pass 
any  law  interfering  with  the  power  of  Congress  u  to 
regulate  commerce  between  the  several  States  ;  "  and 
they  declared  the  act  of  1811,  "  to  be  unjust  and  vio 
lent  in  its  operation,"  fraught  with  high  and  unusual 
penalties,  and  closing  the  door  of  justice  "against  any 
one  who  might  be  desirous  of  bringing  his  rights  to  a 
legal  test."  And  they  recommended  the  passage  of  an 
act  "  to  permit  the  questions  left  open  by  the  Court  of 
Errors  (the  constitutional  questions)  to  be  judicially 
examined." 

A  bill  was  introduced  to  that  effect  and  passed  the 
House,  but  was  denied  in  the  Senate.  This  once  more 
alarmed  Livingston  &  Fulton,  and  they  offered  favor 
able  terms  of  compromise  to  Colonel  Ogden,  which  he 
accepted.  He  consequently  stepped  down  from  the  high 
patriotic  position  he  had  taken,  submitted  to  the  bribe 
held  up  before  him,  and,  to  use  the  language  of  Mr. 
Duer,  "  consented  to  navigate  his  boat  upon  his  '  an 
cient  and  accustomed  ferry,'  under  the  banner  of  the 
monopoly.'' 1 

The  above  adjustment  of  the  controversy  between 
these  immediate  parties,  in  no  way  settled  the  question 
in  the  public  mind ;  and  Connecticut,  following  New 
Jersey,  passed  retaliatory  laws,  prohibiting  steamers 
running  under  the  New  York  monopoly  from  navigat- 

1  See  Duer's  first  and  second  letters  to  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  1817. 


154       NATEAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

ing  the  waters  of  that  State.  These  three  States  had 
now  actually  become  parties  in  the  controversy.  The 
embarrassments  resulting  from  this  legislative  warfare 
were  severely  felt ;  and  in  fact  the  navigable  waters 
of  all  these  States  were  to  a  considerable  extent  re 
stricted  in  their  accustomed  use  ;  and  all  who  had  not 
a  direct  interest  in  the  controversy,  agreed  that  it  was 
an  unnatural  state  of  things,  and  that  a  remedy  must 
be  applied  in  some  form  to  correct  the  evil. 

Thomas  Gibbons,  who  had  been  an  efficient  lawyer, 
but  retired  from  practice,  and  residing  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  N.  J.,  owned  a  ferry  (by  the  side  of  Ogden's) 
from  that  place  to  the  city  of  New  York.  Without 
asking  any  questions  he  put  two  steamboats  upon  his 
ferry,  and  determined  to  test  the  validity  of  the  New 
York  Statutes.  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  legal  attain 
ments,  boldness,  great  wealth,  and  in  every  respect  a 
formidable  contestant  for  Livingston  &  Fulton  to  deal 
with  ;  above  price  or  merely  selfish  motives.  As  he 
entered  upon  the  prosecution  of  his  purpose  he  found 
Colonel  Ogden  an  active  opponent.  Ogden  now  applied 
to  the  Chancellor  of  New  York,  who  felt  bound  by  the 
laws  of  his  own  State,  and  the  former  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Errors  ;  and  he  allowed  a  perpetual  injunction 
against  Gibbons,  on  the  ground  that  "  no  collision  was 
presented  in  the  case  between  the  acts  of  Congress  and 
the  acts  of  this  State  ;  "  which  decision  was  confirmed 
by  a  second  decision  of  the  Court  of  Errors. 

From  this  opinion  Gibbons  at  once  appealed  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  This  court 
reversed  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Errors,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Statutes  of  New  York,  granting  the 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       155 

exclusive  right  to  Livingston  &  Fulton,  were  repugnant 
to  the  powers  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
had  vested  in  Congress  to  regulate  commerce  ;  and 
that  Gibbons  having  a  coasting  license  under  the  Gen 
eral  Government,  "  a  case  of  collision  was  declared  to 
have  arisen."  This  decision,  from  which  there  was  no 
appeal,  broke  down  the  monopoly  and  flung  open  the 
Hudson  and  adjacent  waters  to  fair  competition,  and 
the  unrestricted  intercourse  of  trade,  navigation,  and 
commerce  upon  them.  The  immediate  result  was,  that 
steamers  of  every  description,  suited  to  the  capacity 
and  purposes  of  all  who  choose  to  engage  in  build 
ing  them,  were  at  once  put  upon  the  Hudson  and  the 
coast,  and  began  rapidly  to  extend  to  the  great  lakes 
and  rivers  throughout  the  Union.  And  the  exclusive 
grants  to  Livingston  &  Fulton  —  which  the  legislature 
of  New  York  had  made  with  a  commendable  purpose, 
no  doubt,  to  encourage  these  enterprising  men,  but 
by  a  mistaken  sense  of  public  rights  and  duty  —  fell 
to  the  ground.  These  grants  no  longer  stood  as  sen 
tinels  to  guard  the  avenues  of  trade  and  travel,  but 
under  the  wise  provisions  of  our  Federal  Constitution, 
and  the  just  demands  of  a  free  and  enlightened  public 
sentiment,  were  virtually  obliterated  from  the  records 
of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  above  decision  of  the  United  States  Court 
gave  vast  additional  importance  to  navigation  by 
steam  ;  it  opened  the  whole  country  to  its  use,  growth, 
and  expansion ;  and  the  beneficial  results  that  have 
followed  this  settlement  of  the  controversy  by  the  na 
tional  judiciary  are  beyond  estimate.  It  in  fact  gave 
to  steam  navigation  in  America  an  impetus  —  for  as 


156        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

yet  it  had  scarcely  been  introduced  into  any  other 
country — which  no  human  power  could  limit.  In  a 
very  few  years,  not  only  the  Hudson,  but  the  St.  Law 
rence,  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Great  Lakes, 
were,  if  I  am  allowed  the  expression,  alive  with  boats 
of  all  sizes  propelled  by  steam,  passing  into  and  through 
the  hitherto  inaccessible  territories  of  the  Union,  and 
peopling  them  with  millions  of  inhabitants  from  the  old 
States,  and  from  foreign  immigration.  Such  was  the 
effect  of  American  enterprise  and  genius,  when  left  to 
their  own  free  action  ;  and  such  was  the  result  of  that 
small  beginning,  in  our  own  land,  and  by  our  own  na 
tive  citizens,  which  prepared  the  way  for  this  wonder 
ful  revolution. 


CHAPTER   XVI.   * 

THAT  it  may  more  fully  appear  how  much  Read 
contributed  to  the  development  of  this  great  work, 
we  will  now  proceed  to  show  by  comparison,  the  close 
analogy  that  existed  between  his  inventions  and  com 
binations,  which  he  applied  to  his  boat,  and  the  ma 
chinery  which  Fulton  applied  to  his  two  first  boats  upon 
the  Hudson,  —  the  Clermont  and  the  Car  of  Neptune. 
By  this  comparison,  the  fact  that  Fulton  adopted  the 
machinery  of  Read,  not  only  in  its  kind,  but  in  its 
combination,  will  become  self-evident.  And  the  idea 
that  Read's  inventions  and  labors  were  appropriated  by 
Livingston  &  Fulton,  in  the  construction  of  their  first 
boats,  will  be  difficult  to  overcome  ;  for  as  already 
seen,  they  or  either  of  them  did  not  claim  to  be  the 
inventors  of  any  part  of  the  machinery  they  used. 

By  recurrence  to  Read's  petitions  to  Congress,  and 
his  patent,  specifications,  and  drawings,  it  is  seen  that 
he  applied  the  paddle-wheel  as  the  best  mode  of  pro 
pulsion.1 

That  his  boiler  dispensed  with  the  brick  work,  was 
rendered  light  and  portable,  and  placed  in  the  bottom 
of  the  boat. 

That  his  cylinder  was  fixed  at  such  distance  above 

1  See  Fig.  No.  12  on  opposite  page ;  also  Plate  3,  Fig.  5,  p.  102,  ante. 


158        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

the  boiler  as  to  admit  the  axis  of  the  float  wheels  l 
to  turn  freely,  and  be  raised  or  lowered  at  pleasure. 

That  the  floats  of  the  wheels  were  to  be  in  propor 
tion  to  the  size  of  the  boat,  and  the  velocity  with  which 
it  is  to  be  moved. 

That  the  axis  of  the  wheels  was  to  be  turned  by  pin 
ions  or  cranks,  as  may  be  found  best. 

That  in  lieu  of  the  working-beam,  he  invented  the 
cross-head,  or  working  frame,  running  in  grooves, 
either  horizontally  or  vertically,  thus  dispensing  with 
the  working-beam. 

That  he  also  dispensed  with  the  parallel  motion  as 
invented  by  Watt. 

That  he  produced  the  continuous  rotary  motion  to 
turn  the  float-wheels,  by  means  of  two  racks  acting 
alternately,  with  flexible  teeth,  or  by  cranks,  and 
showed  that  a  fly-wheel  would  not  be  necessary,  as 
the  float-wheels  themselves  would  serve  as  a  substi 
tute,  and  keep  up  the  motion  beyond  the  dead  points. 

That  he  proposed  the  double-acting  cylinder  in  which 
the  piston  was  moved  by  high  steam,  or  by  condensa 
tion  either,  as  might  be  found  best,  but  preferred  the 
high  steam. 

That  he  dispensed  with  the  cold-water  cistern  of 
Watt,  and  supplied  the  boiler  by  injecting  water 
through  a  pipe  passing  through  the  bottom  of  the  ves 
sel  or  up  the  side. 

That  his  cross-head  is  attached  to  the  end  of  his  pis 
ton-rod,  and  is  moved  by  it.  And  that  the  cross-head 
is,  moreover,  connected  with  the  two  racks,  or  two 

i  Paddle-wheels,  float-wheels,  side-wheels,  and  sometimes  wheels,  are 
used  synonymously. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       159 

cranks  (as  the  case  may  be)  by  two  connecting  rods, 
passing  from  each  end  of  the  cross-head  to  the  shaft  or 
axis  of  the  water-wheels. 

That  he  attached  his  paddle-wheels  toy  the  axles  of 
the  racks  or  cranks,  without  any  fly-wheel ;  which 
axles  were  so  constructed  as  to  raise  or  lower  their 
axis  of  motion  at  pleasure,  to  overcome  the  difficulty 
that  would  arise  from  sinking  the  wheels  too  deep  in 
the  water,  as  the  vessel  became  heavily  laden. 

The  machinery  Fulton  used  is  described  by  Pro 
fessor  Ren  wick  as  follows :  — 

"  A  far  more  simple  form  of  the  engine,  and  which  is  in 
many  respects  preferable,  is  that  which  is  used  by  Fulton  in 
his  steamboats.  It  will  be  at  once  seen  by  inspection,  that 
in  this  engine  the  beam  is  suppressed,  together  with  the  par 
allel  motion.  As  a  substitute  for  these  parts,  a  cross-head  is 
adapted  to  the  upper  extremity  of  the  piston-rod;  this  works 
between  vertical  guides  :  it  is  connected  to  the  two  cranks 
by  the  two  connecting  rods,  and  to  these  is  joined  in  the  case 
before  us,  the  axis  of  the  water-wheels."  1 

"  The  engine  which  was  used  in  Fulton's  final  and  success 
ful  experiment,  and  which  was  constructed  from  the  draughts 
made  by  Fulton  in  France,  in  1803,  had  a  marked  influence 
upon  the  forms  of  those  subsequently  constructed  for  this 
purpose,  both  in  England  and  the  United  States.  The  cold- 
water  cistern  of  Watt's  engine  was  dispensed  with,  and  in 
order  to  supply  its  place  the  diameter  of  the  condenser  was 
doubled  ;  its  capacity  thus  became  half  that  of  the  cylinder, 
instead  of  one  eighth,  as  had  before  been  customary.  The 
water  of  injection  was  supplied  by  a  pipe  passing  through 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  A  parallel  motion  seems  to  have 
been  sent  out  as  a  part  of  the  engine  ;  but,  for  reasons  which 

1  Berwick's  Treatise  on  the  Steam-engine,  p.  163.     See  Fig.  No.  13. 


160         NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

cannot  now  be  discovered,  a  cross-head,  adapted  for  another 
purpose  to  the  piston-rod,  was  made  to  work  in  guides.  This 
cross-head  was  added  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  two  con 
necting  rods,  or  straps,  by  which  two  working-beams,  as  it 
were,  suspended." 1 

"  In  Fulton's  first  boat  the  paddles  were  attached  to  the 
axles  of  the  cranks,  and  the  latter  also  bore  spur-wheels 
which  drove  pinions ;  upon  the  axles  of  the  pinions  was 
placed  a  heavy  fly-wheel.  The  paddle-wheels  themselves 
act  as  regulators,  and  fly-wheels  are,  in  consequence,  no 
longer  to  be  seen  in  American  steamboats."  2 

"  The  object  proposed  by  Fulton,  in  the  mode  we  have 
described,  of  connecting  his  water-wheels  with  his  engine, 
was  unquestionably  that  of  enabling  him  to  change  their  di 
ameter,  and  to  raise  and  lower  their  axis  of  motion,  until  Jhe 
should  by  experiment  ascertain  the  size  and  position  most 
advantageous  in  practice.  In  conformity  with  this  view  of 
the  subject,  it  is  known  that  the  position  of  the  axis  was 
more  than  once  changed  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  the  diame 
ter  of  the  wheel  was  also  altered  before  the  first  steamboat 
was  considered  by  him  completed.  In  the  Car  of  Neptune, 
the  second  boat  Fulton  built,  he  made  very  important 
changes  in  his  engine.  The  piston-rod  was  still  directed  by  a 
cross-head,  moving  in  guides,  but  the  working-beams  were 
suppressed  altogether,  and  two  cranks,  adapted  to  two  sepa 
rate  axles,  were  attached  directly  to  the  cross-heads  by  con 
necting  rods.  A  fly-wheel  was  still  used,  driven  by  wheels 
and  pinions,  and  in  the  slow  rate  of  motion,  to  which  he  re 
stricted  himself,  was  found  of  great  value.  This  form  of 
engine  is  still  much  used,  with  the  omission,  however,  of  the 
fly-wheel."  8 

1  See  Essay  on  the,  Steamboats  of  the  United  States,  by  James  Eenwick, 
LL.  D.,  in  Woolhouse's  edition  of  Tredgold  On  the  Steam-engine,  Appen 
dix,  p.  102. 

2  Jbid.  pp.  102, 103.  8  Ibid.  p.  103. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   TEE  STEAM-ENGINE.        161 

"  Four  miles  per  hour  was  the  condition  to  Livingston  & 
Fulton,  and  Fulton  built  his  first  boat  with  reference  to  that 
rate  of  speed  ;  but  by  raising  the  axle  and  increasing  the 
diameter  of  the  water-wheels,  the  velocity  of  the  first  suc 
cessful  steamboat  (the  Clermont)  was  carried  up  to  six  miles 
per  hour." J 

"  The  form  of  the  engine  adopted  by  Stevens  differed  less 
from  the  original  form  of  that  of  Watt  than  the  form  chosen 
by  Fulton.  The  parallel  motion  and  working-beam  were 
both  retained ;  the  connecting-rod  was  increased  somewhat 
in  length,  and  the  axle  of  the  crank  produced  on  both  sides 
in  order  to  form  the  axle  of  the  paddle-wheels  ;  the  enlarged 
conductor,  as  a  substitute  for  the  cold-water  cistern,  was  also 
used  by  him. 

"  These  forms  of  engines,  thus  brought  into  use  by  Fulton 
and  Stevens,  have  directed  the  practice  of  American  engines. 
The  fly-wheel  has  been  laid  aside,  and  the  parallel  motion 
h^s  been  superseded,  even  in  the  engine,  with  the  lever- 
beam,  by  a  cross-head  and  slides.  Upon  the  Mississippi 
and  in  a  few  instances  in  the  Atlantic  States,  horizontal 
engines  have  been  employed  ;  and  the  description  of  engine 
called  high-pressure,  in  contradistinction  to  the  condensing, 
is  much  used  in  the  Western  waters."  2 

Mr.  Fulton,  in  his  letter  to  Boulton  &  Watt,  on  or 
dering  his  machinery,  — 

"  Made  inquiries  as  to  the  employment  of  high  degrees  of 
heat  in  small  engines,  and  the  limit  to  which  it  might  be 

1  Tredgold  On  the  Steam-enyine,  Appendix,  p.  103. 

2  Ibid.  p.  104.     "  In  the  steamboats  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  high- 
pressure  engines  are  now  in  most  general  use.     The  boilers  are  usually  cylin 
drical,  with  internal  flues,  and  the  favorite  position  of  the  cylinder  is  hori 
zontal."  — Renwick,  p.  291. 

"  The  engine  Fulton  put  into  the  Savannah,  the  first  boat  he  built  for 
ocean  navigation,  was  a  horizontal  engine."  — Ibid. 
11 


162        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

carried,  in  order  to  render  them  light  and  compact, —  for 
this  with  his  views  was  necessarily  a  cardinal  point, —  and 
then  went  on  to  say,  '  The  object  of  my  investigation  is  to 
find  whether  it  is  possible  to  apply  the  engine  to  working 
boats  up  our  long  rivers  in  America.  The  only  thing  that 
is  wanting  is  to  arrange  the  engine  as  light  and  compact  as 
possible,'  etc.  And  in  the  postscript  of  his  letter,  he  pro 
poses  for  Mr.  Watt's  consideration  some  schemes  of  engines 
suggested  by  Mr.  Livingston.  The  diameter  of  the  cylin 
der  (made  for  Fulton)  was  twenty-four  inches  with  a  stroke 
of  four  feet,  being  about  nineteen  horse-power;  —  the  plan 
ning  and  execution  of  the  subordinate  parts,  as  well  as  of 
the  connecting  and  paddle  machinery,  having  been  under 
taken  by  Mr.  Fulton  himself."  1 

The  following  summary  will  more  directly  show  the 
close  analogy  between  the  machinery  invented  and 
combined  by  Read,  and  that  used  by  Fulton  as  above 
described. 

Read  applied  paddle-wheels  at        Fulton   used   the   same  in   the 
the  sides  of  his  boat,  suspended  to     same   way  ;    and  had   no   wheel- 
a  shaft  or  axle  passing  across  the     house, 
gunwales  of  the  boat ;  and  had  no 
wheel-house. 

Read  proposed  to  turn  the  axle        Fulton  used  cranks  to  turn  his 
of  his  wheels  by  racks  and  pinions     water-wheels,  with    a    spur-wheel 
or  by  cranks,  as  might  be  found     and  pinion  to  move  his  fly-wheel, 
best ;  —  he  used  cranks  in  his  ex 
perimental  boat. 

Read  constructed  his  boat  so  as  Fulton  constructed  his  boat  so 
to  raise  or  lower  his  water-wheels  as  to  raise  and  lower  the  wheels ; 
at  pleasure.  which  he  did  more  than  once  in 

his  first  experiment. 

Read  proportioned  the  diameter        Fulton  altered  the  diameter  of 
of  his  water-wheels  and  size  of  his     his  water-wheels  until  he  arrived 
floats   to    the   size   and   proposed     at  the  same  thing, —  a  proper  pro- 
velocity  of  the  boat.  portion  of  the  wheels  to  the  boat. 
1  Life  of  Watt,  pp.  333,  334. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        163 


Read  so  changed  the  engine  of 
Watt  as  to  make  it  light  and  port 
able  for  river  navigation,  dispen 
sing  with  the  brick  work  and  other 
heavy  and  bulky  parts  of  Watt's 
engine. 


Read's  boiler  was  very  compact, 
multi-tubular,  and  placed  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat. 

Read  dispensed  with  the  cold- 
water  cistern  of  Watt,  and  fed  his 
boiler  by  a  pipe  passing  up  from 
the  water  below  the  boat ;  he 
proposed  to  dispense  with  the  con 
denser  and  ejection-pipe,  or  not,  as 
might  be  desired  in  boats. 

Read  dispensed  with  the  work 
ing-beam,  and  invented  the  cross- 
head,  or  working  frame,  as  a  sub 
stitute  ;  to  be  run  in  guides,  either 
vertically  or  horizontally. 

Read  dispensed  with  the  paral 
lel  motion  as  invented  by  Watt. 

Read  used  the  double-acting 
cylinder  of  Watt. 

Read  did  not  use  the  fly-wheel, 
but  claimed  that  the  water-wheels 
themselves  would  carry  the  motion 
beyond  the  dead  points,  and  serve 
the  same  purpose,  making  a  fly 
wheel  unnecessary. 


Fulton  in  his  order  to  Boulton 
&  Watt,  wished  only  certain  parts 
of  the  common  engine ;  and  ex 
plained  to  them  that  he  wanted 
the  unusual  machinery  he  had  or 
dered  to  make  his  engine  as  light 
and  compact  as  possible,  for  river 
navigation  in  America. 

Fulton's  boiler  was  compact, 
with  two  flues  passing  through  the 
water,  and  placed  in  the  bottom  of 
the  boat. 

Fulton  dispensed  with  the  cold- 
water  cistern  of  Watt,  and  supplied 
his  boiler  and  condenser  from  the 
water  below  the  boat ;  he  used  a 
condenser  with  his  injection-pipe 
passing  up  through  the  bottom  of 
the  vessel. 

Fulton  dispensed  with  the  work 
ing-beam  in  the  building  of  his 
second  boat,  the  Car  of  Neptune  ; 
and  used  the  cross-head  in  both 
boats,  with  guides  in  a  vertical 
position. 

Fulton  dispensed  with  the  same. 

Fulton  used  the  same. 


Fulton  at  first  used  a  fly-wheel 
for  his  slow  motion ;  but  as  the 
velocity  of  motion  was  increased, 
and  the  speed  of  his  boats  became 
more  rapid,  fly-wheels  were  found 
to  be  unnecessary,  and  went  out 
of  use. 

It  is  believed  that  the  above  comparison  is  correct ; 
if  such  be  the  case,  it  shows  that  the  machinery  which 
Fulton  used  was  substantially  the  same  as  that  in 
vented  by  Read  in  1789,  for  the  same  purpose  to 


164        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

which  Fulton  applied  it  in  1807.  It  is  not  claimed 
that  Fulton  did  or  did  not  know  that  Read  was  the 
author  of  it ;  but  it  is  claimed  that  he  knew  no  part 
of  it  was  of  his  own  invention.  But  this  is  clear  : 
that  it  was  a  combination  of  machinery  invented  and 
put  in  successful  operation  under  the  labors  of  these 
two  men,  unlike  anything  of  the  kind  which  had  before 
or  else\vhere  been  effected.  It  was  adapted  to  the  pur 
pose  for  which  it  was  designed,  and  by  its  invention  and 
skillful  application,  gave  success  to  steam  navigation. 

In  relation  to  one  part  of  the  above  machinery,  the 
paddle-wheels,  which  Fulton  patented  in  1811,  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Judge  Read  to 
Hon.  Timothy  Pickering,  of  the  date  of  January  27, 
1817,  will  be  read  with  interest.  After  speaking  of 
the  original  draught  of  certain  parts  of  his  steam- 
engine,  copied  by  Mr.  Gray,  he  proceeds  in  his  letter 
to  say  :  1  — 

"  On  the  same  sheet  of  paper  is  a  drawing,  and  in  the 
same  manuscript  a  description  of  a  steamboat,  constructed 
with  paddle-wheels,  in  the  same  manner  they  are  now  used. 
This  drawing  of  the  boat  was  taken  about  the  same  time 
from  one  which  I  built  and  rowed  myself  across  Porter's 
River,  in  Danvers,  in  the  year  1789,  in  presence  of  Dr. 
Prince,  of  Salem.  I  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  this 
was  the  first  boat  ever  constructed  with  paddle-wheels,  with 
an  avowed  intention  of  propelling  it  by  steam. 

"On  the  8th  of  February,  1790,  about  two  months  be 
fore  the  passing  of  the  act  to  '  Promote  the  Progress  of  the 
Useful  Arts',  I  presented  a  petition  to  Congress  for  a  patent 
for  the  above  and  other  inventions,  as  will  appear  by  the 

i  It  will  be  recollected  that  Mr.  Pickering  had  been  Secretary  of  State, 
and  ex-ojficio  Commissioner  of  Patents. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE,         165 

Journals  of  the  House,  and  by  my  petition  (if  kept  on  file), 
a  copy  of  which  I  have  preserved.  Some  months  after  pre 
senting  this  petition,  I  unluckily  discovered,  by  looking  into 
some  of  the  first  volumes  of  the  '  Philosophical  Transac 
tions,'  that  an  experiment  had  been  made  on  board  a  French 
frigate,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  comparative  utility  of 
wheels  and  oars  in  a  calm. 

"  Unacquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  not  know 
ing  that  a  new  application  was  deemed  a  new  invention,  I 
took  out  a  patent  on  a  new  petition  for  a  steamboat,  in  the 
year  1791,  to  be  propelled  through  the  water  by  chain- 
wheels,  —  scrupulously  avoiding  the  simple  wheel,  —  which 
answered  my  purpose  perfectly  well,  supposing  I  should  not 
be  entitled  to  a  patent  for  it,  in  consequence  of  its  having 
been  applied  in  another  way  on  board  a  frigate.  On  the 
above  statement  of  facts,  which  I  can  verify,  Query,  whether 
a  patent  for  the  above  inventions,  should  I  take  one  out, 
would  be  valid  and  of  any  use  to  me  ? 

"  The  law  requires  that  the  invention  should  not  be  known 
or  used  before  the  application.  The  engine  and  boat  with 
paddle-wheels,  were  not  known  and  used  at  the  time  I  first 
applied  for  a  patent ;  but  my  application  was  before  the  pas 
sage  of  the  above  act.  Will  uiy  application  to  Congress  be 
fore  the  passage  of  the  act,  be  considered  in  law  equivalent 
to  an  application  to  the  Secretary  of  State  ? 

"  The  above  questions  are  interesting  to  me,  and  I  should 
like  to  have  your  opinion  upon  them  when  you  are  at  leis 
ure,  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  give  it.  Another  ques 
tion  on  which  I  should  like  to  have  your  opinion,  is,  whether 
the  experiment  made  on  the  boat,  constructed  in  the  manner 
above  mentioned,  and  with  the  avowed  design  of  propelling 
it  by  steam,  will  any  way  invalidate  Mr.  Fulton's  patent,  so 
far  as  it  includes  the  use  of  paddle-wheels  of  the  same  con 
struction  I  invented  and  used  many  years  before  he  applied 
for  a  patent  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

IT  is  proper  here  to  make  the  inquiry,  how  Fulton 
came  by  this  unique  system  of  machinery  ?  Did  he 
get  it  from  Fitch,  or  Symington,  or  Bell,  who  are 
the  only  persons,  hitherto,  for  whom  any  pretensions  of 
that  sort  appear  to  have  been  made  ? 

Aaron  Vail,  American  Consul  at  L'Orient  in  France, 
had  made  a  contract  with  Fitch  and  his  company, 
"  with  a  view  to  obtain  patents  in  France  and  other 
parts  of  Europe."  1  In  pursuance  of  this  contract  Fitch 
went  to  France  in  1793,  but  succeeded  in  doing  noth 
ing  ;  and  soon  left  on  account  of  the  political  agitations 
in  France,  which  superseded  all  business  operations.2 
On  leaving,  Fitch  deposited  his  papers  with  Vail,  who 
lent  them  to  Fulton  for  his  inspection,  as  Mr.  Vail 
was  heard  to  remark  ;  3  but  there  is  no  evidence  direct 
from  Vail  himself  on  the  subject.  It  is  mere  hearsay 
evidence,  yet  there  is  no  object  or  disposition  to  ques 
tion  its  correctness.  The  point  of  inquiry  is,  did  Ful 
ton  use  any  part  or  parcel  of  Fitch's  inventions  in  his 
boat  ?  To  this  inquiry  the  unqualified  answer  is,  that 
he  did  not.  Did  he  use  Fitch's  oars  or  paddles? 
Certainly  not.  Did  he  use  his  pipe-boiler  ?  Certainly 
not.  Did  he  use  his  ponderous  brick-work  boiler,  that 
occupied  with  his  other  machinery  two  thirds  of  his 

i  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  320.  2  Duer's  second  letter  to  Golden. 

8  Life  of  Fitch,  pp.  387,  388. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        167 

boat?  Certainly  not.  Did  he  apply  his  crank  to 
move  twelve  oars,  six  up  and  six  down,  or  four  broad 
paddles  in  the  stern  of  his  boat  ?  Certainly  not.  Did 
he  use  the  pump  and  trunk,  which  Fitch  at  length 
chose  to  patent  as  a  mode  of  propulsion  in  addition 
to  his  oars  and  paddles  ?  Certainly  not.  Did  he  use 
the  trunk  Fitch  patented,  for  forcing  air  out  at  the 
stern  of  his  boat,  in  lieu  of  water,  as  a  mode  of  pro 
pulsion  ?  Certainly  not.  Did  he  use  Fitch's  leaky 
wooden  caps  to  his  cylinders,  or  Voight's  pipe-con 
denser.?  Certainly  not.  Did  he  use  Hall's,  or  Thorn 
ton's  condenser,  or  Voight's  forcing-pump,  tried  and 
flung  aside  by  Fitch?  Certainly  not.  Did  he  use 
the  cold-water  tub  or  cistern  in  which  Fitch  placed  his 
condenser  ?  Certainly  not.  What  of  Fitch's  machin 
ery,  then,  did  he  use  ? 

Take  the  parts  above  enumerated  from  any  one  of 
the  boats  Fitch  built,  and  there  would  be  nothing  left 
of  his  machinery  except  the  double-acting  cylinder, 
which  was  Watt's  invention,  and  which  all  alike  adopted 
and  used.  Hence  it  is  clear  that  Fulton  used  no  part 
of  Fitch's  machinery  ;  and  if  he  in  fact  had  access  to 
Fitch's  plans  and  drawings  in  the  hands  of  Vail,  it 
proves  nothing,  except  the  fact  that  he  did  not  adopt 
and  use  any  part  of  them,  but  rejected  them  in  toto. 
In  short,  the  whole  system  of  machinery  employed  by 
Fulton  was  different  from  that  of  Fitch  ;  and  most  of 
it  necessarily  different,  to  meet  a  different  plan  of  con 
struction  and  propulsion. 

It  is  claimed  by  English  authors,  as  before  seen,  that 
Fulton  examined  Symington's  boat  on  the  Forth  and 
ClydeCanal  in  1804,  the  Charlotte  Dundas,  and  that 


168        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

he  took  drawings  of  the  machinery  ; l  hence  they  in 
fer,  that  Symington  was  the  man  who  supplied  Fulton 
with  the  necessary  information  for  building  a  steam 
boat.  Symington  was  at  work  upon  the  above  boat 
three  years  ;  lie  began  it  in  1801,  and  commenced 
to  run  it  upon  the  canal  in  1803,  for  the  purpose  oft 
towing  ordinary  canal  boats.  But  he  did  not  succeed 
in  drawing  the  boats  more  than  two  and  a  half  miles  an 
hour,2  a  speed  about  the  same  as  that  usually  performed 
by  horses,  and  at  a  much  dearer  rate.  This  did  not 
meet  the  expectation  of  Symington,  and  his  patron, 
Lord  Dundas,  who  was  a  large  stockholder  in  the 
canal,  and  the  project  was  flung  aside  and  abandoned. 
The  washing  of  the  banks  of  the  canal  was  also  a 

o 

difficulty  in  the  way  of  this  mode  of  towing.3 

Just  as  in  the  case  of  Fitch,  if  he  took  drawings 
of  Symington's  boat,  it  proves  nothing.  It  is  not 
whether  he  took  sketches,  but  whether  he  actually  used 
the  machinery  of  Symington's  boat.  This,  neither  Mr. 
Woodcroft,  Woolhouse,  Lardner,  or  any  one  else,  has 
ever  ventured  to  assert.  If  these  gentlemen  had  made 
a  comparison  between  the  several  parts  of  Symington's 
machinery  and  the  machinery  of  Fulton,  and  found 
that  the  latter  was  substantially  identical  with  the 
former,  it  then  would  have  showed  something,  and 
made  a  very  different  case  of  it.  But  there  was  one 
of  the  best  reasons  in  the  world  for  not  doing  this,  — 
and  the  reason  was,  that  in  point  of  fact  the  ma 
chinery  of  the  two  did  not  bear  the  slightest  resem- 

1  Woodcroft's  History  of  Early  Steam  Navigation,  pp.  64,  G5. 

2  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  128. 

3  Review  of  the  Steam-Engine,  by  Dio  Lardner.      See  Ntw  York  Review, 
vol.  v.  pp.  98,  99. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        169 

blance  ;  and  by  comparing  it,  it  would  prove  at  once 
that  Fulton  adopted  and  used  no  part  of  Symington's. 

The  "  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  in  speaking  of  the 
introduction  of  steam  navigation,  attributes  the  whole 
thing  to  Symington.  In  its  great  purpose  of  present 
ing  to  the  world  an  impartial  and  exact  account  of 
everything,  it  remarks  on  this  subject  : l  — 

"  Leaving  undescribed  some  abortive  attempts  of  Rumsey 
and  Fitch  in  America,  which  were  attended  with  no  practi 
cal  results,  we  pass  on  to  the  first  really  successful  attempts 
at  steam  navigation,  which  were  made  in  1788,  by  a  Scotch 
gentleman,  Patrick  Miller,  of  Dalswinton.  After  trying  men 
and  horses  to  turn  the  paddle-wheels,  he  resolved  to  try 
the  steam-engine  to  do  the  work.  He  went  to  Edinburgh 
where  he  saw  Symington,  and  engaged  him  to  procure  an 
engine  ;  which  was  built  in  Edinburgh  under  Symington's 
directions,  sent  to  Dalswinton,  and  put  together.  The  en 
gine,  in  a  strong  oaken  frame,  was  placed  on  one  side  of  a 
twin,  or  double  pleasure-boat,  and  the  boiler  was  placed  on 
the  other  side,  and  the  paddle-wheel  in  the  middle.  It  was  a 
perfect  success,"  etc. 

It  then  speaks  of  Symington's  boat,  which  he  built 
for  Miller  on  the  canal,  and  adds :  — 

"  Although  these  experiments  were  thus  practically  suc 
cessful,  and  their  value  well  understood  and  appreciated,  we 
find  that  Mr.  Miller's  boat  was  soon  after  dismantled  and 
laid  up,  and  nothing  further  was  at  that  time  attempted ; 
that  Symington's  machinery  was  not  at  this  time  equal  to  the 
task  of  propelling  a  boat ;  but  the  practicability  of  steam 
navigation  was  settled  by  Miller ; 2  but  not  until  180]  was 

1  Pages  637,  638. 

2  These  experiments  of  Miller  did  not  compare  in  importance  with  the 
previous  experiments  of  Fitch ;  —  no  wonder  he  should  choose  to  leave 
Fitch's  "  abortive  attempts,"  undescribed. 


170         NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

a  really  practicable  steamboat  first  produced;  —  the  Char 
lotte  Dundas  may  justly  be  considered  the  first  practical 
steamboat."  * 

In  allusion  to  Fulton,  the  "  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica  "  adds : — 

"  We  now  arrived  at  the  period  when  American  enterprise 
stepped  in  to  avail  itself  of  the  painful  and  laborious  results 
of  these  costly  experiments.  About  a  year  after  Syming 
ton's  experiments  with  the  Charlotte  Dundas,  Fulton,  the 
American  engineer,  made  a  similar,  though  less  successful 
experiment  on  the  Seine,  for  the  weight  of  his  engine  broke 
his  vessel  in  two,  and  the  whole  went  to  the  bottom.  In 
August,  1803,  he  completed  another  vessel,  with  its  machin 
ery.  This  boat  was  sixty-six  feet  long  and  eiglit  feet  wide,  and 
moved  so  slowly  that  his  experiment  is  described  as  a  fail 
ure.  He  afterwards  came  to  Scotland,  and  saw  Symington's 
steamboat  on  the  Forth  and  Clyde  Canal ;  his  visit  being 
thus  recorded  by  Symington :  '  When  engaged  in  these 
experiments  I  was  called  upon  by  Mr.  Fulton,  who  told  me 
he  was  lately  from  North  America,  and  intended  returning 
thither  in  a  few  months.2  In  compliance  with  his  request 
I  caused  the  engine-fire  to  be  lighted  up,  put  the  steamboat 
in  motion,  and  carried  him  four  miles  on  the  canal  and 
returned  in  one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  —  at  the  rate  of 
six  miles  per  hour.  He  asked  my  consent  to  take  notes,  to 
which  I  assented.  In  consequence,  he  pulled  out  a  memo 
randum  book,  and  after  putting  several  pointed  questions 
respecting  the  general  construction  and  effect  of  the  machine, 

1  The  Charlotte  Dundas  is  described  as  having  "a  single  paddle  wheel, 
revolving  in  a  well-hole,  near  the  stern  of  the  vessel." 

2  Fulton  had  then  been  in  Europe  over  seventeen  years,  and  did  not  re 
turn  till  December,  1806;  and,  before  the  above  talk,  had  tried  his  experi 
ments  in  France  with  success,  and  ordered  his  engine  for  a  boat  on  the 
Hudson. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       171 

which  I  answered  in  a  most  explicit  manner,  he  jotted  down 
particularly  everything  then  described,  with  his  own  obser 
vations  upon  the  boat  during  the  trip.' 

"  Fulton  having  obtained  what  information  he  could,  re 
turned  shortly  afterwards  to  America,  and  in  conjunction 
with  Mr.  Livingston,  obtained  a  patent  securing  to  them 
prospective  advantages  of  steam  navigation  in  America,  by 
what  they  were  pleased  to  call  *  their  invention  of  steam 
boats.'  " 

It  will  be  'remembered  that  Fulton  went  over  to 
England  from  France  in  1804,  and  when  he  visited 
Symington's  boat  it  must  have  been  between  that 
time  and  December,  1806.  And  the  "  Encyclopaedia  " 
as  well  as  Symington,  both  state  that  it  was  after  Ful 
ton's  experiment  on  the  Seine,  which  was  in  August, 
1803. l  This  shows  that  Fulton  had  no  draughts  and 
plans  from  Symington  prior  to  ordering  his  engine. 
And  it  is,  moreover,  not  claimed,  that  he  received  any 
other  draughts  and  plans  than  what  he  jotted  down 
on  his  pocket  memorandum,  with  open  hand  and  pen 
cil,  during  the  short  trip  of  one  hour  and  twenty  min 
utes  on  the  canal.  Such  are  the  boasted  plans  and 
draughts  furnished  by  Symington  to  Fulton,  and  such 
the  grounds  of  pretension  of  British  standard  works, 
that  America  is  indebted  to  England  for  her  steam 
boats. 

Indeed,  the  experiments  of  Symington  were  in 
significant,  when  compared  with  several  experiments 
which  had  been  made  in  this  country  before.  Fitch 

l  See  ante,  pp.  167, 170.  "  In  August,  1803,  he  completed  another  vessel 
with  its  machinery,  sixty-six  feet  long,  eight  feet  wide,  which  moved  so  slow 
it  is  described  as  a  failure.  Afterwards  he  came  to  Scotland,  and  saw  Sym 
ington's  steamboat,"  etc. 


172       NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

had  run  his  boat  three  months  as  a  passenger  boat 
on  the  Delaware.  Morey  had  experimented  with  his 
boat,  —  a  far  better  one  than  Symington's.  Livingston 
had  tried  his  first,  and  yet  neither  they  nor  Syming 
ton  had  hit  upon  the  right  sort  of  machinery. 

Professor  Ren  wick,  in  his  "  Treatise,"  says  :  u  A 
comparison  of  the  draught  of  Symington's  boat,  which 
is  still  extant,  with  the  boats  constructed  by  Fulton, 
furnishes  conclusive  evidence  that  the  latter  borrowed 
no  valuable  ideas  from  the  former."  In  an  able  arti 
cle,  said  to  be  written  by  the  same  author,  he  adds  :  l  — 

"  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  which  more  than  any  other 
establishes  the  value  of  Fulton's  experiment,  that  this  iden 
tical  form  (of  his  engine)  without  change  or  modification  of 
any  real  importance,  is  still  to  be  found  in  the  greater  part 
of  the  steamers  of  Great  Britain  (1838),  and  was  seen  but 
a  few  days  since  in  three  of  them  in  the  harbor  of  New 
York.  It  is  wholly  and  essentially  different  from  that  used  by 
Stanhope,  Miller,  or  Symington,  or  from  that  subsequently 
adopted  by  Fulton  himself.  The  inference  is  direct,  that 
the  steam  navigation  of  Great  Britain  was  not  improved 
by  gradual  steps  from  the  earlier  imperfect  experiments,  but 
adopted,  from  the  first  dawn  of  its  success,  the  plans  of  Ful 
ton  ;  while  he  had  in  no  respect  imitated  those  earlier  ex 
periments,  but  modified  the  original  engine  of  Watt  to  a  form 
consistent  with  his  own  views."  2 

It  is  not  claimed  that  Symington  effected  this  mod 
ification  of  Watt's  engine,  which  in  fact  fitted  the  steam- 
engine  for  navigation,  and  is  in  reality  the  substance  of 
the  whole  controversy.  Had  he  effected  this  work, 
his  English  contemporaries,  in  their  endeavor  to  attach 

1  See  New  York  Review,  vol.  iii.  p.  102.  2  Ibid.  p.  102. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       173 

every  possible  improvement  of  the  steam-engine  to 
Englishmen,  would  not  have  failed  to  mention  it,  and 
give  the  details  of  the  improvement.  And  had 
Boulton  &  Watt,  who  built  Symington's  last  engine 
for  him,  been  aware  of  any  such  improvement,  they 
would  not  have  been  surprised  at  the  unusual  ma 
chinery  embraced  in  Fulton's  order ;  which  required 
Fulton's  explanation  and  personal  attendance  and  su 
pervision,  in  order  to  construct  it ;  as  "  a  new  form  of 
engine  was  indispensable  for  the  purpose  he  intended 
to  apply  it."  1 

Fulton  in  his  order  proposed  no  alteration  in  the 
cylinder,  but  directed  the  condenser  to  be  enlarged,  the 
cold-water  cistern  to  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  water 
for  condensation  to  be  supplied  by  a  vertical  pipe 
through  the  bottom  of  the  vessel,  a  cross-head  to  the 
piston-rod  in  lieu  of  the  working-beam  and  parallel 
motion,  the  cross-head  to  work  in  guides,  and  the  ma 
chinery  so  constructed  as  that  he  might  raise  or  lower 
the  axle  of  the  paddle-wheels  at  pleasure.2  All  these 
arrangements  were  new  to  Boulton  &  Watt,  and  re 
quired  special  plans  and  directions  to  construct  the 
machinery.  Such  surely  would  not  have  been  the 
case  had  Symington  ordered  and  procured  the  same 
machinery  from  them  in  1801.  From  the  above  cir 
cumstance,  in  the  absence  of  all  evidence  showing  the 
several  parts  of  Symington's  engine,  it  is  safe  to  con 
clude,  that  it  did  not  vary  in  any  essential  particular 
from  the  ordinary  engines  of  that  day  ;  while  that  used 
by  Fulton  was  a  new  thing  entirely,  the  double-acting 

1  New  York  Review,  vol.  iii.  p.  101.  2  Ibid. 


174        NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

cylinder  of  Watt  excepted.  And  the  draught  of  Sym 
ington's  boat,  made  by  himself,  it  appears  from  the 
above  statement  of  Professor  Renwick,  "  furnishes 
conclusive  evidence  "  of  the  fact,  that  Fulton  was  in 
no  way  indebted  to  him  for  his  machinery.1 

The  claim  that  Bell  furnished  Fulton  with  plans  and 
drawings  in  1806,  has  been  sufficiently  answered  on  a 
former  page.  Before  the  above  date,  Fulton's  machin 
ery  had  been  ordered,  built,  and  sent  to  New  York. 
And  although  Bell  was  the  first  to  construct  a  success 
ful  steamboat  in  Great  Britain,  he  did  not  commence 
it  until  1811,  and  put  it  in  operation  in  1812  ;  and  it 
is  conceded  on  all  hands,  that  the  boat  Bell  built  —  the 
Comet — was  copied  after  Fulton's  boats  ;  which  mode  of 
construction,  without  any  essential  improvement,  is  still 
followed  in  England.  If  Bell,  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Woolhouse,  "  sent  a  description  of  the  method  of  ap 
plying  steam  in  propelling  vessels  against  wind  and 
tide,  to  all  the  emperors  and  crowned  heads  of  Europe, 
and  also  to  America,  which  last  government  put  it 


1  "  Symington's  water-wheel  is  situated  in  a  cavity  near  the  stern,  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  breadth  of  the  boat,  so  that  it  becomes  necessary  to 
have  two  rudders,  one  on  each  side,  connected  together  by  rods,  which  are 
moved  by  a  winch  near  the  head  of  the  boat,  so  that  the  person  who  at 
tends  the  engine  may  also  steer.  The  piston  is  supported  in  its  position  by 
friction  wheels,  and  communicates  by  means  of  a  joint  with  a  crank  con 
nected  with  a  wheel,  which  gives  the  water-wheel,  by  means  of  its  teeth, 
a  motion  somewhat  slower  than  its  own ;  the  water-wheel  serving  as  a  fly 
wheel.  He  had  stampers  at  the  head  of  the  boat  for  the  purpose  of  break 
ing  ice  on  the  canal  in  winter."  For  the  above  description  see  Gregory's 
Mechanicks,  vol.  ii.  p.  423. 

The  above  drawing  of  Symington's  boat  (see  No.  14),  is  given  in  Dr. 
Young's  Natural  Philosophy,  vol.  i.  London,  1817.  It  will  be  seen  from 
the  description  and  drawing,  that  there  was  scarcely  a  resemblance  between 
Symington's  and  Fulton's  boats. 


No. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE,        175 

in  practice  in  the  year  1806,"  it  is  certainly  very 
strange,  that  no  account  of  the  doings  of  our  govern 
ment  has  ever  been  known  or  published  on  the  subject. 
It  must  be  concluded  that  our  government  was  as  shy  in 
building  steamboats  after  the  plans  of  Mr.  Bell,  as  were 
the  emperors  and  crowned  heads  of  Europe  them 
selves,  who  it  seems  were  not  moved  by  Bell's  letters 
missive.  In  short,  the  pretensions  in  behalf  of  Bell 
are  fabulous,  so  far  as  the  invention  of  Fulton's  ma 
chinery  is  concerned  ;  but  that  he  constructed  a  small 
boat  at  Glasgow,  at  his  own  risk  and  expense,  after  the 
fashion  of  Fulton's,  which  was  the  first  successful  boat 
in  England,  is  not  doubted ;  but  it  was  five  years  after 
Fulton  built  his  boat  upon  the  Hudson. 

This  story  about  Bell,  probably  had  its  origin  from 
the  following  circumstance  ;  which  furnishes  no  just 
ground,  and  in  fact  no  ground  whatever,  for  Mr.  Wool- 
house  to  make  the  claim  for  him  as  the  inventor  of 
Fulton's  machinery  :  — 

"  Among  the  workmen  who  were  sent  out  from  Soho 
(Boulton  &  Watt's  shop)  to  put  up  his  (Fulton's)  engine, 
was  one  of  the  name  of  Bell.  He  speedily  returned  to 
Europe,  and  was,  after  some  years  of  fruitless  endeavors 
to  obtain  funds,  the  first  who  constructed  a  successful  steam 
boat  in  Great  Britain.  The  engine  of  this  vessel  (the 
Comet]  was  an  exact  copy  of  that  of  Fulton,  with  the  ex 
ception  that  the  vertical  branch  of  the  two  suspended  beams 
was  suppressed,  and  the  motion  of  the  crank  taken  off  from 
the  end  of  the  beam  opposite  to  that  of  the  piston-rod."  * 

Further  comment  on  this  subject  is  unnecessary. 

1  New  York  Review,  vol.  iii.  p.  102. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

IF  the  above  view  of  the  subject  is  correct,  neither 
Fitch,  Symington,  or  Bell,  invented  any  part  of  Ful 
ton's  machinery  ;  and  it  is  not  claimed  for  Fulton  that 
he  invented  any  part  of  it  himself.  On  this  last  point 
it  may  be  well  here  to. make  some  further  examination. 

Cadwalader  D.  Golden,  the  biographer  of  Fulton, 
and  his  intimate  friend  and  principal  counsel,  notwith 
standing  the  partiality  he  manifests  for  him  in  every 
page  of  his  memoir,  has  the  candor  to  remark  :  — 

"  Mr.  Fulton  had  indeed  given  to  Messrs.  Boulton  &  Watt 
instructions  for  constructing  the  first  engine  which  was 
successfully  used  in  a  boat,  and  had  directed  its  parts  to  be 
made  so  that  it  might  be  arranged  in  a  manner,  and  within 
a  compass  suited  to  his  purpose,  which  no  one  with  a  less 
mechanical  genius  than  himself  would  have  been  able  to  do 
as  accurately  as  it  was  done  by  him  ;  yet  he  made  no  pre 
tensions  as  an  inventor  with  respect  to  the  engine.  On  the 
contrary,  he  has  been  often  heard  to  declare,  that  he  did  not 
pretend  himself  to  have  made  any  improvement  .... 
upon  engines  which  were  constructed  according  to  Mr.  Watt's 
principles."  l 

Mr.  Golden  also  says,  in  a  note  referring  to  a  "  Trea 
tise  on  propelling  Vessels  by  Steam  "  :  — 

"  Mr.  Buchanan  (the  author  of  the  '  Treatise  ')  very  can 
didly  admits  that  Mr.  Fulton  is  entitled  to  the  merit  of  hav- 
l  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  120. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       177 

ing  been  the  first  who  contrived  the  means  of  usefully  ap 
plying  the  power  of  steam  to  navigation,  which  is  all  that 
Mr.  Fulton  ever  claimed."  l 

"  The  claims  of  Mr.  Fulton  are  defended  with  great 
ability  by  a  Mr.  Frederick  Royou,  in  a  memoir  published  in 
the  '  Journal  des  Debats  '  of  the  16th  of  March,  1816.  Mr. 
Royou  presents  the  true  question  :  '  It  is  not/  says  he,  '  con 
cerning  an  invention,  but  the  means  of  applying  a  power 
already  known.  Fulton  never  pretended  to  be  an  inventor 
in  regard  to  steamboats  in  any  other  sense.' "  2 

"  We  now  come  to  Robert  Fulton ;  a  man  original  in 
many  things,  but  who,  as  the  introducer  of  the  steamboat, 
merely  availed  himself  of  the  fruits  of  the  labors  and  suc 
cesses  of  the  ingenious  men  in  America  and  Europe  who 
had  toiled  before  him."  8 

"  Fulton  began  after  years  wasted  by  other  men  in  trials 
by  which  he  profited,  and  appropriating  to  himself  the  prin 
ciples  made  manifest  by  the  results  of  their  toils,  disappoint 
ments,  and  losses,  is  now  held  out  to  the  world  as  the  orig 
inal  inventor  of  steamboats."  4 

"  He  (Fulton)  was  not  the  original  inventor  of  steamboats. 
....  What  was  he  then  ?  Why,  he  was  the  first  to  gain 
the  prize ;  he  it  was  who  satisfied  the  law."  6 

"  The  great  and  surprising  merit  of  Fulton  consisted  not 
so  much  in  absolute  originality  as  in  the  skill  with  which  he 
availed  himself  of  all  the  theoretical  knowledge  of  the  day, 
and  applied  it  to  practical  purposes."  6 

"That  Fulton  was  the  inventor  of  the  present  system  of 
steam  navigation,  as  asserted  by  some  American  authors, 
cannot  be  admitted  ;  nor  indeed  did  he  '  invent '  any  single 

l  Colden's  Life  of  Fulton,  p.  130.  2  j^id.  p.  160. 

3  Life  of  Fitch,  p.  384.  4  2bid.  p.  390. 

6  Lives  of  Eminent  Mechanics,  p.  186. 
6  New  York  Review,  vol.  iii.  p.  105. 
12 


178        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

improvement  in  the  construction  either  of  the  machinery  or 

vessel."  1 

Professor  Renwick  also  states,  and  so  do  Wood- 
croft,  Stuart,  and  Tredgold,  that  Fulton  was  not  the 
original  inventor  of  the  steamboat  or  of  the  machinery 
he  employed  in  the  construction  of  his  boats,  but  they 
allow  him  great  and  deserved  credit  for  successfully 
applying  the  machinery  invented  by  others.  Indeed, 
every  person  who  has  written  on  the  subject  of  steam 
navigation,  who  aims  to  give  an  impartial  view  of  it, 
as  well  as  those  who  were  interested  for  and  against 
the  claims  of  Fulton,  allow  the  same  thing.  That 
Fulton,  therefore,  was  not  the  inventor  of  the  steam 
boat,  nor  of  the  machinery  he  used,  nor  indeed  of  any 
part  of  it,  may  be  regarded  as  a  well-settled  fact. 

Thus  seeing  that  the  essential  part  of  the  machin 
ery  used  by  Fulton  was  identical  with  that  invented 
by  Read  many  years  before,  and  the  invention  not 
claimed  by  Fulton,  or  traceable  to  any  other  source 
than  to  Read,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
he  was  the  author  of  it,  without  further  inquiry  on 
the  subject  ?  But  when  we  turn  back  to  the  time 
he  first  made  his  application  to  Congress,  in  1789,  and 
still  further  see  how  easy  and  probable  a  matter  it  was 
for  Stevens,  Livingston,  and  Fulton  to  become  ac 
quainted  with  his  inventions  and  the  details  of  his  ma 
chinery,  it  renders  it  still  more  certain,  that  the  boat 
Read  invented,  was  the  one  adopted  by  Fulton. 

This  conclusion  is  rendered  still  more  certain  when 
it  is  recollected  that  Read,  after  completing  his  inven 
tions  and  preparing  his  draughts  and  models,  as  the 

l  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  p.  638. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.        179 

very  first  step  he  took,  presented  them  to  the  Ameri 
can  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  for  their  examina 
tion,  —  which  showed  not  only  the  confidence  he  had 
in  his  work,  but  the  high  and  honorable  purpose  he 
entertained  of  submitting  it  to  the  scrutiny  of  the  most 
competent  scientific  board  within  his  reach  before  he 
proceeded  further,  —  moreover,  that  the  committee  ap 
pointed  by  the  above  Academy,  which  consisted  of  men 
of  no  less  distinction  than  Richard  Cranch,  Loammi 
Baldwin,  Joseph  Willard,  and  Caleb  Gannett,  spoke 
of  the  originality  of  his  inventions,  and  the  beneficial 
effects  that  would  be  likely  to  follow  from  them,  and 
frankly  recommended  them  to  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  ;  that  he  also  had  a  like  recommendation  from  a 
list  of  eminent  men  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  among  whom 
were  Benjamin  Lincoln,  James  Winthrop,  Eliphalet 
Pearson,  and  Nathaniel  W.  Appleton,  in  which  they 
say  "  that  they  were  original  inventions  so  far  as  they 
know ;  "  and  furthermore  that  he  did  not  in  any  way 
attempt  to  conceal  or  make  a  secret  of  his  discoveries. 
Now  as  we  place  this  matter  before  us  in  a  single 
point  of  view,  and  notice  the  opinions  expressed  by  the 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  by  gentlemen  of 
known  erudition  and  science  in  addition,  as  to  the  origi 
nality  of  the  inventions  of  Read,  and  on  that  ground,  as 
well  as  public  utility,  recommending  the  subject  to  the 
attention  of  Congress  ;  that  his  inventions  were  pub 
licly  exhibited  in  New  York  ;  that  they  were  examined 
by  Stevens  and  fully  explained  to  him ;  that  Stevens, 
Livingston,  and  Rosevelt  afterwards  entered  into  part 
nership  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  boat,  wherein 
any  information  possessed  by  one  would,  as  a  matter  of 


180        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

course,  be  communicated  to  and  be  possessed  by  all ; 
that  the  models,  plans,  petitions,  and  specifications  of 
Read  were  matter  of  record,  and  open  to  public  ex 
amination  before  them ;  that  the  first  boat  this  com 
pany  built  in  New  York,  and  the  first  experiment  tried 
by  Fulton  in  France,  under  the  direction  of  Living 
ston,  after  he  had  retired  from  the  company,  were 
alike  to  be  propelled  with  the  chain-wheel,  which  alone 
was  to  be  found  in  Read's  patent ;  that  they  finally 
adopted  the  paddle-wheel,  contained  in  his  first  peti 
tion  to  Congress,  as  in  his  opinion  the  best  mode 
of  propulsion  ;  and,  in  short,  that  nearly  all  the  ma 
chinery  used  by  Fulton  was  the  same  as  that  invented 
by  Read,  —  do  they  not  furnish  a  succession  and  con 
currence  of  circumstances,  but  little  if  any  less  con 
vincing  than  direct  and  positive  testimony,  to  show 
that  these  inventions  and  improvements  of  Read  found 
their  way  to  Fulton,  in  Paris,  when  Livingston  "  in 
formed  him  of  what  had  been  attempted  in  America  ?  "  l 

It  is,  moreover,  claimed  for  Fulton,  if  he  did  not 
invent,  that  he  combined  this  machinery.  A  combina 
tion  of  machinery  is  ever  theoretical  in  the  outset,  and 
is  a  necessary  part  and  parcel  of  its  invention  when 
applied  to  the  purpose  originally  designed.  When 
mixed  with  other  machinery,  to  accomplish  some  other 
purpose,  a  new  combination  may  very  properly  be 
claimed.  But  if  applied  as  designed,  the  invention 
and  combination  are  one  and  the  same  thing ;  both 
the  result  of  the  same  idea. 

The  machinery  invented   by  Read  was  applied  to 

1  This  introduction  of  Read's  inventions  into  Paris  by  Livingston  will 
also  show  how  Seguin  may  have  become  acquainted  with  the  multi-tubu 
lar  boiler.  Ante,  pp.  53,  55,  note  1,  and  63. 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       181 

the  very  purpose,  and  in  the  same  way,  it  was  origi 
nally  intended  by  him  ;  hence  so  far  as  thus  applied, 
it  cannot  be  said  that  Fulton  was  the  author  of  its 
combination.  It  is  doubtless,  however,  true  that 
when  the  machinery  came  from  under  the  hands  of 
the  workmen,  prepared  for  practical  use,  it  received  a 
finish  that  belonged  to  the  artisans  to  give  it ;  this 
would  have  been  done  as  matter  of  course,  whether 
ordered  by  Fulton  or  Read,  or  any  one  else,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  finish  of  the  cross-head.  But  this 
is  merely  carrying  out  the  principles  of  the  invention, 
and  applying  them  to  practical  use.  In  short,  take 
from  Fulton's  boat,  Watt's  double-acting-condensing 
cylinder,  and  the  machinery  Read  invented  and  com 
bined  with  it,  and  there  would  be  but  little  left  beside 
the  naked  hull.  The  fact  that  Fulton  used  Watt's 
cylinder,  which  came  into  the  combination  of  Read,  in 
his  reconstruction  of  the  steam-engine,  does  not  con 
front  but  tends  to  confirm  the  idea  that  Fulton  applied 
Read's  machinery,  as  invented  and  combined  by  him. 

In  further  support  of  what  has  been  shown,  both 
in  relation  to  the  steamboat  and  locomotive  engine,  the 
following  brief  account,  written  by  Judge  Read  him 
self  seventeen  years  after  his  letter  to  Colonel  Pick 
ering,  before  quoted  (see  page  164),  will  be  read  with 
interest.  It  is  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  him  in 
reply  to  some  inquiries  then  made  of  him  by  the  writer 
on  the  subject  of  his  inventions  in  steam,  arising  from 
remarks  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  former  Professor  in 
the  University  of  Vermont,  which  led  to  the  inquiries. 

"  BELFAST,  August  22,  1834. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  —  Fitch  was  the  first  who  constructed  a 
steamboat  in  America  ;  Rumsey  was  the  next.  Fitch  ap- 


182       NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

plied  paddles,  and  could  not  propel  his  boat  more  than  four 
miles  an  hour.  Paddles  were  subsequently  tried  on  a  large 
scale,  and  found  to  be  inadequate  to  the  purpose.  Rumsey 
at  first  used  a  pump,  which  drew  in  water  at  the  bow,  and 
forced  it  out  at  the  stern  of  the  boat.  He  next  tried  setting- 
poles  for  river  navigation,  but  without  success.1  Believing 
their  failure  was  occasioned  by  their  ill-constructed  boilers 
and  complex  machinery,  and  believing  also  that  steam  might 
be  advantageously  applied  to  land  carriages,  I  constructed  in 
the  year  1789  a  small  boiler,  which,  from  its  characteristic 
principles,  I  denominated  a  Portable  Furnace  Boiler.  It  oc 
cupied  but  little  space  — was  light  and  strong  —  and  so  con 
structed  as  to  require  no  other  furnace  than  what  itself 
constituted.  It  was  especially  designed  for  steamboats  and 
steam-carriages,  a  model  of  each  of  which  I  had  constructed 
the  same  year. 

"  The  boat  was  of  sufficient  size  to  carry  a  man  and  the 
necessary  apparatus  to  propel  it  through  the  water.  To 
the  axis,  which  extended  across  the  gunnel  of  the  boat,  were 
fixed  two  paddle-wheels,  which  were  constructed  on  precisely 
the  same  principles  they  now  are  for  steamboats.  With 
this  boat,  by  means  of  a  crank  and  without  a  fly-wheel,  I 
rowed  myself,  soon  after  it  was  finished,  with  great  rapidity, 
across  an  arm  of  the  sea,  which  separates  Danvers  from 
Beverly.  The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Prince,  of  Salem,  and  several 
other  gentlemen  were  present,  and  saw  the  experiment.  Of 
this  fact  I  have  somewhere  among  my  papers  Dr.  Prince's 
certificate. 

"  I  spent  a  considerable  part  of  the  winter  of  1790  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  exhibited  drawings  and  descriptions 
of  my  steamboat,  steam-carriage,  etc.,  to  President  Wash 
ington,  to  whom  I  had  letters  of  introduction  from  General 
Lincoln,  grandfather  of  the  Professor.  I  also  showed  them 
to  several  members  of  Congress,  and,  I  presume,  to  upwards 

1  The  setting-poles  were  probably  tried  first.  —  ED. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       183 

of  fifty  other  gentlemen  (some  of  them  distinguished  me 
chanics)  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  explained  to  them  the 
principles  of  the  machinery  and  of  the  boiler  designed  for 
steamboats  and  land  carriages. 

"  I  boarded  at  Mrs.  Wheaton's,  in  company  with  Dr.  Cut 
ler  and  General  Rufus  Putnam,  who  were  agents  of  the 
Ohio  Company ;  and  I  recollect  perfectly  well,  they  intro 
duced  General  Stevens  to  me,  and  I  explained  to  him  the 
principles  on  which  my  boat,  boilers,  etc.,  were  constructed. 
If  I  am  rightly  informed,  I  presume  this  must  have  been  the 
same  gentleman  who  was  afterwards  largely  concerned  in 
steam  navigation,  and  was  at  first  connected  with  Chan 
cellor  Livingston  in  building  a  steamboat. 

"  I  first  petitioned  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  a  patent 
for  a  steamboat  with  paddle-wheels;  but,  unfortunately,  in 
looking  over  some  of  the  first  volumes  of  the  "  Transac 
tions  of  the  Royal  Society,"  published  upwards  of  a  hun 
dred  years  ago,  I  discovered  that  an  experiment  had  been 
made  on  board  a  French  frigate,  for  the  purpose  of  ascer 
taining  the  comparative  utility  of  wheels  and  oars.  Sup 
posing  at  that  time,  in  consequence  of  this  discovery,  that 
I  should  not  be  entitled  to  a  patent  for  a  boat  with  paddle- 
wheels,  I  took  considerable  pains  to  invent  a  substitute, 
which  was  a  rowing  machine,  constructed  on  the  principle  of 
the  chain-pump. 

"  Having  satisfied  myself  that  this  would  answer  a  good 
purpose,  and  be  the  best  substitute  I  could  think  of  for  the 
simple  paddle-wheel,  which  J  had  successfully  tried,  I  with 
drew  my  first  petition  to  the  Board,  and  took  out  a  patent 
for  my  new  mode  of  rowing  boats,  and  for  a  Portable  Fur 
nace  Boiler,  which  required  no  other  furnace  than  what  itself 
constituted.  It  was  constructed  internally  with  tubes,  on  the 
same  principle,  and  nearly  of  the  same  form,  with  those  now 
used  for  locomotive  engines. 


184       NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

"  I  was  too  early  in  my  steam  projects.  The  country 
was  then  poor ;  and  I  have  derived  neither  honor  nor  profit 
from  the  time  and  money  expended  on  them.  But  it  is 
gratifying  to  know  that  the  simple  machinery  which  forty- 
five  years  ago  (without  any  knowledge  of  its  having  ever 
been  used  for  that  purpose)  I  selected  as  the  most  eligible 
for  propelling  boats  through  water,  has  been  since  that 
time  successfully  used  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  for 
that  purpose.  I  was,  however,  still  more  gratified  last 
spring,  in  viewing  a  locomotive  engine,  capable  of  moving  a 
mile  in  two  minutes,  put  in  operation  by  steam  generated  in 
a  portable  boiler,  constructed  essentially  on  the  same  princi 
ple  with  one  which  I  invented  for  that  and  other  purposes 
about  forty-six  years  ago,  and  for  which  I  obtained  a  patent 
the  first  day  that  any  patent  was  ever  issued  by  authority 
of  the  United  States. 

"I  have  a  distinct  recollection,  when  my  petition  to  Con 
gress  was  read  in  Congress  Hall  by  the  Clerk  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  that  when  he  came  to  that  part  which 
related  to  the  application  of  steam  to  land  carriages,  a  gen 
eral  smile  was  excited  among  the  members,  and  the  idea 
was  considered  there  and  at  Salem,  where  I  had  a  model  of 
a  steam-carriage  constructed,  as  perfectly  visionary.1 

"  Yours  truly, 

UN.  READ." 

1  The  article  relating  to  the  French  frigate  above  referred  to  by  Judge 
Read,  has  been  found  in  vol.  vi.  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society,  extending  from  1713  to  1723  inclusive,  on  page  545  of  the 
condensed  work;  old  vol.  xxxi.  anno  1721. 

The  article  is  headed  "  A  Method  for  rowing  Men-of-war  in  a  Calm.  By 
M.  Du  Quet.  No.  369,  p.  239." 

It  says,  "  To  perfect  the  art  of  navigation,  two  things  seem  principally 
wanting,  namely,  an  easy  method  of  finding  the  longitude  at  sea,  and  a 
way  to  give  a  vessel  its  course  in  a  calm.  I  flatter  myself  I  have  found 
the  last,  and  hope  to  make  it  appear  by  reason  and  experiment  that  a  man- 
of-war  may  make  a  league  an  hour  in  a  calm,  by  means  of  revolving  oars, 


NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       185 

which  are  easily  applied  to  the  sides  of  the  ship,  without  occasioning  any 
incumbrance." 

The  article  proceeds  to  speak  of  experiments,  but  of  nothing  beyond,  to 
test  the  comparative  merits  of  common  oars  and  revolving  oars,  which 
last,  from  the  description  of  them,  were  constructed  by  attaching  arms, 
with  floats  upon  the  ends  of  them,  three  feet  apart,  to  a  shaft  passing  across 
the  boat.  It  also  speaks  of  the  capstan  and  of  relays  of  men  to  work  the 
revolving  oars,  and  reckons  the  moving  force  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  men:  and  in  time  of  battle  could  make  up  to  board  an  enemy  in  a  calm 
or  to  haul  off,  as  desired.  That's  all  there  is  of  the  article. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

IN  anticipation  of  the  inquiry  which  will  very  natu 
rally  be  made,  why  these  facts  have  not  before  been 
collected  and  presented  to  the  public  in  a  published 
form,  the  following  brief  correspondence  and  the  con 
siderations  that  follow,  it  is  believed,  will  satisfactorily 
show.  In  a  communication  of  the  date  of  February 
25th,  1840,  in  reply  to  an  intimation  to  him  by  a  friend 
that  such  a  publication  should  be  made,  Judge  Read 
makes  the  following  brief  answer  :  — 

"  It  is  my  wish  and  intention,  if  my  life  and  health  be 
spared,  to  collect  together  and  arrange  the  evidence  I  have 
in  relation  to  my  improvements  and  inventions  in  steam- 
power,  and  leave  it  to  posterity,  or  to  some  other  person  than 
myself,  to  publish  to  the  world." 

The  following  letter,  in  allusion  to  the  same  subject, 
was  addressed  to  him  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Hanson  of  Dan- 
vers,  Mass. :  — 

"  DANVERS,  June  1, 1847. 
"Hon.  NATHAN  READ:  — 

"  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  am  engaged  in  writing  a  History  of  Dan- 
vers,  and  I  wish  to  give  therein  a  short  biographical  notice 
of  yourself.  Will  you  favor  me  with  a  sketch,  so  far  as  you 
may  judge  proper?  Will  you  (should  you  accede  to  my  re 
quest)  relate  particularly  the  discoveries  in  steam-power  by 
yourself,  giving  the  dates  and  localities  and  other  leading 
facts  ? 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       187 

"  By  complying  with  my  desires  as  soon  as  other  engage 
ments  will  permit,  you  will  oblige 

"  Yours  truly, 

"J.  W.  HANSON. 

"  P.  S.  —  Please  address 

"  Eev.  J.  W.  HANSON, 

"  Danvers  New  Mills,  Mass." 

"  BELFAST,  June  6,  1847. 
"Rev.  J.  W.  HANSON:  — 

"DEAR  SIR,  —  Your  interesting  letter  of  the  1st  inst. 
was  duly  received,  but  I  have  not  had  leisure  as  yet  to  comply 
with  your  request.  Hope,  however,  it  will  not  be  long  be 
fore  I  shall  be  able  to  send  you  a  copy  of  some  authentic 
documents  relative  to  my  improvements  in  the  steam-engine, 
and  my  contemplated  application  of  it  to  boats,  land  carriages, 
and  other  useful  purposes. 

"  Should  my  health  continue,  I  will  also  give  you  a  brief 
sketch  of  my  life. 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

<i  NATHAN  READ." 

Judge  Read,  at  the  date  of  the  above  letter  to  Rev. 
Mr.  Hanson,  was  near  the  close  of  the  eighty-eighth 
year  of  his  age ;  yet  he  commenced  a  brief  autobiog 
raphy,  agreeable  to  the  above  engagement,  and  pro 
ceeded  so  far  as  to  prepare  a  synopsis  of  some  of  the 
leading  incidents  of  bis  life ;  but  before  he  bad  carried 
his  purpose  beyond  a  mere  memorandum,  evidently  de 
signed  as  the  basis  of  an  autobiography,  he  was  attacked 
with  a  lung-fever,  which  be  did  not  survive. 

At  bis  advanced  age,  an  undertaking  so  arduous 
must  have  been  felt  by  him  as  a  task,  and,  however 
desirable,  he  seems  to  have  made  but  little  progress 
during  the  brief  space  of  time  that  remained  for  him ; 


188        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

and,  indeed,  his  papers,  without  any  particular  arrange 
ment,  were  left  u  to  posterity,  or  to  some  other  person 
than  himself,  to  publish  to  the  world,"  evidently  against 
the  purpose  he  formed  when  too  late,  but  in  accordance 
with  his  intention  as  expressed  in  his  letter  to  his  friend 
in  1840.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  his  life  and 
health  should  not  have  been  spared  sufficiently  long, 
after  he  formed  his  new  purpose,  to  have  carried  it 
out,  and  thus  have  given  to  the  world,  from  under  his 
own  hand,  a  more  satisfactory  and  intelligent  account 
of  his  labors  than  can  now  be  done. 

In  addition  to  the  above  facts,  there  are  many  con 
siderations  that  may  be  brought  to  view  to  account  for 
his  delay  in  presenting  these  inventions  to  the  public. 
At  the  time  of  effecting  these  improvements  he  labored 
under  the  weight  of  a  strong  popular  prejudice  against 
their  utility,  and  possessed  no  adequate  means  himself 
to  carry  his  inventions  into  practical  effect,  and  was 
forced  to  suspend  his  prosecution  of  the  subject,  under 
the  hope  that  a  more  enlightened  public  sentiment,  and 
circumstances  more  favorable  to  his  means  of  progress, 
would  come  to  his  aid.  In  this  shape  the  matter  rested 
through  many  years  of  discouragement,  until  he  be 
came  engaged  in  other  pursuits ;  and  others,  in  the 
mean  time,  stepped  in  to  reap  the  benefit  of  his  im 
provements,  and  enjoy  the  fame  of  his  inventions. 

About  the  time  Fulton  put  his  boat  upon  the  Hud 
son  (which  indeed  was  the  same  year),  he  retired  to 
his  farm  in  Belfast,  which,  for  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  occupied  a  great  share  of  his  attention.  It  gave 
him  but  little  opportunity  to  enter  into  a  controversial 
warfare  in  relation  to  his  priority,  and  the  legal  privi- 


NATHAN  READ  AND  THE  STEAM-ENGINE.          189 

leges  secured  to  him  by  patent  had  already  expired  by 
lapse  of  time.  He  was,  moreover,  a  man  of  peace, 
and  naturally  disinclined  to  thrust  himself  before  the 
public  in  a  controversy  which  promised  to  him  no  other 
result  than  the  gratification  of  personal  ambition  or 
pride. 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  in  no  way  surprising 
that  the  matter  should  be  suffered  to  pass  along  until 
he  arrived  at  the  conclusion  to  arrange  his  evidence, 
and  leave  it  to  posterity  to  present  to  the  world.  In 
the  mean  time  his  own  personal  friends  and  acquaint 
ances,  though  acquainted  with  the  general  facts  in  rela 
tion  to  his  inventions,  yet  felt  that  so  long  as  he  lived 
the  whole  matter  was  under  his  own  control,  and  that  it 
would  be  out  of  place  to  disturb  in  any  way  the  free 
action  and  purpose  of  his  own  mind  on  the  subject. 

Since  his  decease  the  subject  has  rested  until  these 
few  unpretending  pages  have  been  written,  in  the  hope 
and  purpose  that  they  would  be  instrumental  in  pre 
serving  the  history  of  the  important  part  he  took  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  steam-engine,  and  its  successful 
preparation  for  navigation  and  land  transport. 

As  we  contemplate  the  vast  results  that  have  fol 
lowed  the  application  of  steam-power  to  these  pur 
poses,  it  can  do  no  less  than  inspire  us  with  a  veneration 
for  the  men  who  were  the  genuine  contrivers,  as  well 
as  constructors,  of  the  work  —  not  for  any  one  who 
may  be  a  relative,  friend,  or  favorite,  but  for  all  who 
contributed  their  time,  talents,  or  fortune  to  it,  in  pro 
portion  to  their  respective  merits.  How  sublime  is  the 
thought  that  it  is  they  who  have  created  a  power  and 
ability  in  our  race  to  attain  to  a  seemingly  higher  des- 


190        NATHAN  READ  AND    THE  STEAM-ENGINE. 

tiny  on  earth  than  before  had  been  allotted  to  it !  It  is 
they,  too,  who  have  done  so  much  to  extend  the  arts 
and  sciences,  and  make  them  more  and  more  subser- 
.  vient  to  our  use  and  benefit  —  a  matter  that  has  dis 
tinguished  the  age  in  which  wre  live. 

If  Judge  Read  did  not  succeed  in  securing  the  op 
portunity  of  applying  his  inventions  to  practice,  it  is 
believed,  nevertheless,  that  no  one  did  more  than  he 
towards  the  invention  of  the  successful  steamboat  and 
locomotive.  As  we  look  back  upon  the  little  boat  he 
experimented  with  at  Danvers,  just  large  enough  to 
carry  a  man,  we  see  that  it  contained  the  elements  of  a 
successful  growth  and  development ;  and  we  have  seen 
but  a  short  time  since,  a  steamer  lying  in  the  harbor  of 
New  York,1  of  sufficient  size  and  capacity  to  carry  an 
army  of  ten  thousand  men  with  their  equipage,  having 
the  same  paddle-wheels,  the  same  multi-tubular  boil 
ers,  and  the  same  type  of  machinery  throughout  (save 
the  screw  propellers  attached  as  a  collateral  force)  that 
were  invented  and  combined  in  the  model  boat  and 
model  engine  of  Read  more  than  seventy  years  ago. 

Moreover,  the  present  locomotives,  in  the  wonderful 
exhibition  of  their  power  and  utility  throughout  every 
civilized  land,  are  driven  by  his  multi-tubular  boiler 
and  high-pressure  engine,  which  alone  give  to  them 
their  life,  availability,  and  marvelous  power,  under 
their  present  improved  state  ;  and  although  those  im 
provements  have  been  gradually  progressing,  yet  the 
main  features  and  principles  of  the  machinery  remain 
unchanged. 

From  the  invention  of  the  steamboat  and  locomo- 

l  The  Great  Eastern. 


NATHAN  READ  AND   THE  STEAM-ENGINE.       191 

tive,  the  greatest  that  human  genius  has  ever  achieved, 
we  may  calculate  that  still  greater  results  are  to  fol 
low.  What  they  have  already  accomplished  is  familiar 
to  all ;  and  our  national  pride  as  well  as  individual  satis 
faction,  are  exultingly  felt  as  we  attach  these  inventions 
to  our  own  country,  and  as  we  behold  with  wonder  how 
great  an  influence  they  together  have  exerted,  not  only 
on  the  products  of  industrial  labor  and  the  extension  of 
trade  and  commerce,  but  on  the  whole  order  of  society, 
the  advance  of  civilization,  and  the  spread  of  Christian 
ity  ;  but  the  future  alone  can  tell  how  far  this  display 
of  ingenuity  and  mental  power  will  reach. 


APPENDIX. 

No.  1. 

SPECIFICATION   AND    PATENT   OF   NAIL    MACHINE. 

"  The  United  States  of  America.     To  all  to  whom  these  Let 
ters-patent  shall  come :  — 

"  WHEREAS,  Nathan  Read,  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts  in  the  United  States,  hath  alleged  that  he  has 
invented  a  new  and  useful  improvement,  to  wit,  a  machine 

for  cutting  and  heading  nails  at  one  operation which 

improvement  'has  not  been  known  or  used  before  his  appli 
cation  ;  has  made  oath  that  he  does  verily  believe  that  he  is 
the  true  inventor  or  discoverer  of  the  said  improvement ; 
has  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  the  sum  of 
thirty  dollars,  delivered  a  receipt  for  the  same,  and  pre 
sented  a  petition  to  the  Secretary  of  the  United  States, 
signifying  a  desire  of  obtaining  an  exclusive  property  in 
the  said  improvement,  and  praying  that  a  Patent  may  be 
granted  for  that  purpose :  These  are,  therefore,  to  grant 
according  to  law,  to  the  said  Nathan  Read,  his  heirs,  admin 
istrators,  or  assigns,  for  the  term  of  fourteen  years  from  the 
thirteenth  day  of  the  month  of  December  last  past,  the  full 
and  exclusive  right  and  liberty  of  working,  constructing, 
using,  and  vending  to  others  to  be  used,  the  said  improve 
ment  ;  a  description  whereof  is  given  in  the  words  of  the 
said  Nathan  Read  himself,  in  the  schedule  hereto  annexed, 
and  is  made  a  part  of  these  Presents. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  caused  these  Letters  to  be 
made  Patent,  and  the  Seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  here- 


APPENDIX.  193 

unto  affixed.  Given  under  my  hand  at  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia,  this  eighth  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-eight,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  twenty- 
second.  JOHN  ADAMS. 
[L.  s.]  By  the  Pivsident, 

"  TIMOTHY  PICKERING,  Secretary  of  State" 

"  City  of  Philadelphia,  to  wit : 

"  I  do  hereby  certify,  That  the  foregoing  Letters-patent 
were  delivered  to  me  on  the  sixth  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight,  to  be  examined  ;  that  I  have  examined  the  same,  and 
find  them  conformable  to  law ;  and  I  do  hereby  return  the 
same  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  within  fifteen  days  from  the 
aforesaid  date,  to  wit,  on  this  eighth  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  aforesaid. 

"  CHARLES  LEE,  Attorney  General" 

"  The  schedule  referred  to  in  these  Letters-patent,  and 
making  part  of  the  same,  containing  a  description  in  the 
words  of  this  said  Nathan  Read  himself,  of  an  improve 
ment,  to  wit :  a  machine  for  cutting  and  heading  nails  at 
one  operation :  — 

"  Specification  of  a  machine  for  cutting  and  heading  nails 
at  one  operation,  invented  by  Nathan  Read  of  Salem,  in  the 
County  of  Essex  and  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
The  principal  parts  of  this  machine  are  as  follows,  namely : 
the  cutting  tool,  which  vibrates  to  cut  the  heads  and  points  ; 
vices  that  are  shut  by  weights ;  hammers  that  are  im 
pelled  upward  by  springs  to  head  the  nails  ;  a  cantor  placed 
under  the  cutting  tool  to  cant  the  nails  but-end  downward  ; 
ducts  or  tubes  to  receive  the  nails  from  the  cantor  and  con 
vey  them  to  the  vices,  which  are  inverted  ;  sliding  gauges  to 
stop  the  nails  in  their  descent,  gauge  them  for  the  head  pen- 
13 


194  APPENDIX. 

dent ;  levers  to  move  back  the  sliding  gauges,  and  spiral 
springs  to  draw  them  forward,  as  occasion  requires ;  shed- 
der  to  disengage  the  nails  from  the  vice  after  they  are 
headed  ;  a  stage  to  support  the  nail  plate,  and  a  pair  of 
nippers,  weight,  and  pully  to  feed  the  cutting  tool ;  a  com 
plex  wheel  that  gives  motion  to  the  other  parts  of  the 
machine ;  pillars  inverted  into  a  bed-piece  which  connects 
and  sustains  the  whole.  The  wheel,  being  put  in  motion  by 
water  or  any  other  power  as  steady,  first  vibrates  the  cutting 
tool  to  the  right,  where  it  receives  the  nail  plate  obliquely 
and  cuts  the  nail,  which  drops  upon  the  cantor  and  is  thrown 
but-end  foremost  into  the  right  hand  duct,  which  conveys  it 
to  the  vice,  where  it  is  stopped  by  the  sliding  gauge,  ad 
justed  for  heading,  and  held  till  the  vice  gripes  it ;  then  the 
sliding  gauge  is  drawn  back,  and  the  nail  is  headed  by  the 
hammer.  The  vice  then  opens,  the  shedder  strikes  the  nail, 
and  it  drops.  The  wheel  having  now  completed  half  a  revolu 
tion,  the  position  of  the  cutting  tool  and  cantor  is  reversed, 
and  a  second  nail  is  cut  and  drops  upon  the  cantor,  which 
cants  it  but-end  downwards  into  the  left-hand  duct,  through 
which  it  descends  to  the  vice  below,  where  it  is  gauged, 
headed,  and  shed,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  first  was ;  the 
large  end  of  the  second  nail  being  cut  from  that  part  of  the 
plate  which  formed  the  point  of  the  first.  Thus  two  nails 
are  cut  and  headed  every  revolution  of  the  wheel.  For  a 
more  particular  description,  I  refer  to  the  drawings,  with 
written  references  and  model,  deposited  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State.  NATHAN  READ. 

"  Witnesses,  — 

WM    PRESCOTT,   ) 
D.  W.  LEWIS."  J 


APPENDIX.  195 

No.  2. 
ROSEVELT'S  VOYAGE  DOWN   THE  OHIO  AND  MISSISSIPPI. 

NICHOLAS  J.  ROSEVELT  was  the  first  who  built  a  steam 
boat  on  the  Western  waters.  It  was  called  the  New  Orleans, 
was  launched  at  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1811,  and  was 
of  100  tons  burden.  This  boat  left  Pittsburg  for  New  Or 
leans  in  October  of  the  same  year.  It  had  but  one  wheel 
in  the  stern,  and  two  masts  with  sails.  The  voyage  down 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  was  very  adventurous,  being  the 
first  ever  undertaken  upon  those  rivers  with  a  steamboat.1 

Mr.  llosevelt,  wife,  and  family,  the  engineer,  pilot,  six 
hands,  and  a  few  servants,  made  up  the  crew.  They  arrived 
safely  at  the  rapids  at  Louisvill  •  in  the  night  of  the  fourth 
day,  passing  over  seven  hundred  miles  in  seventy  hours. 
The  wild  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  who  had  never 
heard  of  such  an  invention,  were  struck  with  surprise  and 
terror  at  the  rapid-going  strange  tiling ;  and  when  it  ar 
rived  late  at  night  at  Louisville,  it  is  said  the  puffing  of  the 
steam  produced  general  consternation,  and  the  inhabitants 
rushed  from  their  beds  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the  strange 
noise.  The  boat  was  detained  about  three  weeks  at  Louis 
ville  in  order  to  pass  the  rapids,  which  she  did  the  last 
week  in  November.  For  two  days  they  pursued  their  soli 
tary  voyage  down  the  Ohio  in  a  hot  sun,  and  still  smoky 
air ;  as  the  second  night  came  on,  and  as  they  sat  quietly 
upon  the  deck,  "  they  heard  a  rushing  sound  and  violent 
splash,  and  saw  large  portions  of  the  shore  tearing  away 
from  the  land  and  falling  into  the  river.  The  day  had  been 
an  awful  day ;  so  still  that  you  could  have  heard  a  pin  drop 
on  deck."  They  spoke  little,  for  every  one  appeared 
thunder-struck. 

i  For  the  following  graphic  sketch,  see  account  of  this  voyage  by  Ch.  J. 
Latrobe,  in  The  Rambler  in  North  America. 


196  APPENDIX. 

"  The  next  day,  the  sun  rose  over  the  forests  the  same 
dim  ball  of  fire,  and  the  air  was  thick,  dull,  and  oppressive 
as  before.  The  portentous  signs  of  this  terrific  natural  con 
vulsion  continued  and  increased.  The  pilot,  alarmed  and 
confused,  affirmed  that  he  was  lost,  as  he  found  the  channel 
everywhere  altered  ;  and  where  he  had  hitherto  known  deep 
water,  there  lay  numberless  trees,  with  their  roots  upturned. 
The  trees  were  seen  waving  and  nodding  on  the  bank  with 
out  a  wind  ;  but  the  adventurers  had  no  choice  but  to  con 
tinue  their  route.  Towards  evening  they  found  themselves  at 
a  loss  for  a  place  of  shelter.  They  had  usually  brought  to 
under  the  shore,  but  everywhere  they  saw  the  high  banks 
disappearing,  overwhelming  many  a  flat  boat  and  raft  from 
which  the  owners  had  landed  and  made  their  escape. 

"  A  large  island,  in  mid-channel,  which  was  selected  by 
the  pilot  as  the  better  alternative,  was  sought  for  in  vain, 
having  disappeared  entirely.  Thus,  in  doubt  and  terror, 
they  proceeded  hour  after  hour  till  dark,  when  they  found  a 
small  island,  and  rounded  to,  mooring  themselves  to  the  foot 
of  it.  Here  they  lay,  keeping  watch  on  the  deck, 'during  the 
long  autumnal  night ;  listening  to  the  sound  of  the  waters, 
which  roared  and  gurgled  horribly  around  them,  and  hear 
ing  from  time  to  time  the  rushing  earth  slide  from  the  shore, 
and  the  commotions  as  the  falling  mass  of  earth  and  trees 
was  swallowed  up  by  the  river. 

....  "  Several  times  in  the  course  of  the  night,  the 
shock  of  the  passing  earthquake  was  communicated  from  the 
island  to  the  bow  of  the  vessel.  It  was  a  long  night,  but 
morning  dawned,  and  showed  them  that  they  were  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  The  shores  and  the  channel  were  now 
equally  unrecognizable,  for  everything  seemed  changed. 
About  noon  they  reached  the  small  town  of  New  Madrid  ; 
the  inhabitants  were  in  the  greatest  distress  and  consterna 
tion  ;  part  had  fled  in  terror  to  the  high  grounds,  others 


APPENDIX.  1 97 

prayed  to  be  taken  on  board,  as  the  earth  was  opening  in 
fissures  on  every  side,  and  their  houses  hourly  falling  around 
them. 

"  Proceeding  hence,  they  found  the  Mississippi,  at  all  times 
a  fearful  stream,  now  unusually  swollen,  turbid,  and  full  of 
trees  ;  and  after  many  days  of  great  danger,  though  they  felt 
no  more  of  the  earthquake,  they  reached  their  destination  at 
Natchez  at  the  close  of  the  first  week  in  January,  1812,  to 
the  great  astonishment  of  all ;  the  escape  of  the  boat  hav 
ing  been  considered  an  impossibility.  At  that  time  you 
floated  for  three  or  four  hundred  miles  on  the  river  without 
seeing  a  human  habitation. 

"  Such  was  the  voyage  of  the  first  steamer.  The  natural 
convulsion,  which  commenced  at  the  time  of  her  descent,  has 
been  but  slightly  alluded  to,  but  will  never  be  forgotten  in 
the  history  of  the  West ;  and  the  changes  wrought  by  it 
throughout  the  whole  alluvial  region  through  which  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  pour  their  waters,  were  perhaps  as  remark 
able  as  any  on  record." 


No.  3. 

A  COMMITTEE  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  as 
late  as  1831,  to  inquire,  among  other  things,  into  the  present 
state  and  future  prospects  of  land  carnages  run  on  common 
roads  by  steam,  after  examining  Messrs.  Gurney,  Hancock, 
Farey,  Trevithick,  Ogle,  Summers,  Telford,  McAdam,  and 
others  on  the  subject  as  witnesses,  reported  a  summary  of  the 
evidence,  as  follows,  as  to  the  progress  made  in  the  applica 
tion  of  steam-power  to  land  carriages ;  and  the  certainty  of 
their  success  on  common  roads. 


198 


APPENDIX. 


"  1.  That  carriages  can  be  propelled  by  steam  on  common 
roads  at  an  average  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour. 

"2.  That  at  this  rate  they  have  conveyed  upwards  of 
fourteen  passengers. 

"  3.  That  their  weight,  including  engine,  fuel,  water,  and 
attendance,  may  be  under  three  tons. 

"  4.  That  they  can  ascend  and  descend  hills  of  consider 
able  inclination  with  facility  and  safety. 

"  5.  That  they  are  perfectly  safe  for  passengers. 

"  6.  That  they  are  not  (or  need  not  be  if  properly  con 
structed)  nuisances  to  the  public. 

"  7.  That  they  will  become  a  speedier  and  cheaper  mode 
of  conveyance  than  carriages  drawn  by  horses. 

"8.  That  they  admit  of  greater  width  of  line,  and  as  the 
roads  are  not  acted  on  by  the  feet  of  horses,  such  carriages 
will  cause  less  wear  of  roads. 

"  9.  That  the  tolls  on  steam-carriages  will  prevent  their 
use,  if  permitted  to  remain  unaltered." 

They  considered  the  practicability  of  running  steam  car 
riages  on  common  roads  to  have  been  fully  established,  and 
that  it  would  result  in  a  very  important  improvement  in  the 
means  of  communication,  and  be  generally  adopted,  as  sci 
entific  men  should  give  their  attention  to  the  subject. 

Mr.  Gurney  testified  before  the  committee  that  in  1829 
he  travelled  from  London  to  Bath  and  back  in  his  steam- 
carriage,  and  performed  the  last  eighty-four  miles  in  ten 
hours,  including  stoppages,  and  afterwards  they  ran  as  pub 
lic  stages ;  that  they  used  tubular  boilers,  the  tubes  about 
one  inch  in  diameter ;  and  that  he  knew  of  from  twenty  to 
forty  other  carriages  being  built. 

Mr.  Ogle  stated  that  his  carriage  ran  from  London  to 
Southampton,  and  at  some  places  went  from  thirty-two  to 
thirty-five  miles  an  hour ;  that  they  went  up  and  down  hills, 


APPENDIX.  199 

rising  one  in  six,  at  a  speed  of  twenty-four  miles  an  hour, 
laden  with  passengers,  both  ladies  and  gentlemen. 

Mr.  Summers  stated  that  he  had  travelled  up  a  hill  of 
one  in  twelve  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  miles  an  hour  with  nine 
teen  passengers,  and  had  run  four  and  a  half  hours  in  suc 
cession  at  the  velocity  of  thirty  miles  per  hour. 

Mr.  James  Stone  testified  that  he  carried  thirty-six  per 
sons  on  one  carriage ;  and  Mr.  Farey  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  steam-carriages  would  be  run  at  one-third  the  expense 
of  coaches. 

The  other  witnesses  stated  similar  facts  from  their  own 
experiments :  one  ran  his  steam-carriage  twelve  months ; 
and  all  testified  that  the  carriages  were  entirely  practicable, 
under  perfect  control,  and,  with  the  slightest  movement, 
could  be  turned  or  stopped,  where  horses  would  be  wholly 
unmanageable. 

Colonel  Torrens  testified  as  to  the  great  advantages,  in 
his  opinion,  that  steam-carriages  on  common  roads  would 
have  upon  British  agriculture,  as  it  would  open  the  way 
for  all  farming  classes  to  send  their  produce  to  market  with 
much  greater  facility  and  economy  ;  and  that  it  would 
tend  to  reclaim  many  uncultivated  tracts  of  land,  and  add 
much  to  the  aggregate  of  production  from  the  soil ;  in 
addition  that  the  effects  from  the  conveyance  of  goods  and 
passengers,  would  be,  in  amount,  almost  impossible  to  cal 
culate. 

Parliament  had,  before  the  above  inquiry,  in  obedience 
to  the  will  of  the  laboring  classes,  imposed  a  heavy  toll 
upon  the  running  of  land-carriages  by  steam,  which 
amounted,  substantially,  to  a  prohibition  of  them ;  and  the 
purpose  was  to  procure  a  repeal  of  that  law.  But  Parlia 
ment  refused  to  grant  the  repeal ;  and  the  result  has  been, 
that  railroads  have  become  so  numerous,  that  they  now  do 
the  business,  and  have  to  a  considerable  extent  superseded 
the  necessity,  of  steam  on  common  roads. 


200  APPENDIX. 

No.  4. 

THE  following  is  that  part  of  petition  No.  2,  referred  to 
in  the  letter  by  Mr.  Rerasen  (see  page  151),  relating  to  land 
carriages  and  paddle-wheels. 

"  To  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  for  the  De 
partment  of  War,  and  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  the  petition  of  Nathan  Read  of  Salem  in  Massachu 
setts,  most  respectfully  showeth,  That  he  hath  discovered 
a  simple  method  of  moving  land  carriages  by  the  power  of 
steam,  and  of  directing  them  principally  by  the  same  agent. 
[Your  petitioner  hath  invented  an  improved  method  or 
methods  of  impelling  boats  or  vessels  through  the  water,  and 
against  the  current  of  rapid  rivers,  by  wheels,  etc.1]  Your 
petitioner  prays,  etc.  NATHAN  READ. 

"  NEW  YORK,  April  23, 1790." 

PETITION  No.  1.  —  The  part  relating  to  steam  is  as  fol 
lows,  namely :  — 

....  "Your  petitioner  hath  increased  the  utility  of 
the  steam-engine  by  improving  the  common  cylinder  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  render  it  a  cheap  and  convenient  substitute 
for  the  cylinder  and  case,  in  which  the  pressure  of  steam  is 
substituted  for  that  of  the  atmosphere.  The  improved  steam- 
cylinder  is  so  constructed  as  to  work  up  and  down,  or  back 
and  forth  in  a  horizontal  position,  with  equal  power,  both 
ends  being  closed  and  alternately  exhausted  of  and  replen 
ished  with  steam.  Your  petitioner  hath  also  improved  the 
most  improved  boilers  by  inventing  several  portable  furnace 
boilers,  each  of  which  is  so  constructed  as  to  constitute  of  it- 

l  Several  other  modes  are  here  mentioned;  but  his  specification  and 
drawings  show  that  he  relied  on  wheels,  and  they  are  omitted.  The 
brackets  were  made  by  Mr.  Remsen,  and  referred  to  in  his  letter. 


APPENDIX.  201 

self  a  furnace  or  furnaces,  the  heat  of  which  is  advantageously 
applied  to  the  converting  of  water  into  steam,  and  to  the  in 
creasing  of  the  expansive  power  of  it  before  it  escapes  from 
the  boiler ;  which  exposes  within  a  small  space  a  very  large 
evaporating  surface,  and  is  regularly  fed  with  hot  water  from 
the  reservoir,  and  also  prevents  the  loss  of  heat  that  would 
take  place  in  a  furnace  that  is  foreign  to  the  boiler  itself ;  and 
on  these  accounts  far  less  fuel  will  be  consumed  upon  this 
than  upon  any  other  known  construction.  Your  petitioner 
prays,  etc.  «  NATHAN  READ. 

"  NEW  YORK,  April  14, 1790." 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

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